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CHRIST ON THE CROSS 



AN EXPOSITION ■ 



TWENTY-SECOND PSALM, 



BY THE 

REV. JOHN STEVENSON, 

PBRPETUJLL CURATE OF CURY AND OUNWALLOE, CORNWALL. 



SECOND AMERICAN, FROM THE TENTH LONDON EDITIOlf. 






NEW YORKf^>-o/ v/ash\rv &''**'''* 
ROBERT CARTER, 58 CANAL STREET; 
AND PITTSBURG, 56 MARKET STREET. 

1846. 



3S ^\^^ 



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CONTENTS. 



Verse. Page. 

Psalm xxii . , v 

Introductory Epistle . vii 

On thb Title of the Psalm xx 

CHRIST ON THE CROSS. 

IN DARKNESS. 

The Cry 1 . . 23 

The Complaint 2 . . 54 

The Acknowledgment 3 . . 69 

The Contrast 4 — 6 . . 80 

The Reproach 6 . • 99 

The Mockery . . . . , . 7 . . 108 

The Taunt 8 . . 114 

The Appeal 9, 10 .. 121 

The Entreaty 11 . . 133 

The Assault . . . . . 12, 13 .. 137 

The Faintness 14 . . 142 

The Exhaustion 15 . . 147 

The Piercing 16 . . 151 

The Emaciation 17 . . 157 



IV CONTENTS. 

Verse. Page. 

The Insulting Gaze 17 . . 164 

The Partition of the Garments, and Casting 

OP the Lot 18 . , 108 

The Importunity 19, 21 . . 175 

CHRIST ON THE CROSS. 

IN LIGHT. 

The Deliverance 21 . . 197 

The Gratitude 22 . . 211 

The Invitation 23 . . 219 

The Testimony 24 . . 230 

The Vow . . . . . . . 25 . . 238 

The Satisfaction of the Meek . . 26 . . 244 

The Seekers of the Lord praising Him . 26 . . 257 

The Eternal Life 26 . . 260 

The Conversion of the World . . 27 . . 268 

The Enthronement 28 . . 276 

The Universal Worship « . . . 29 . . 286 

The Author of the Faith . . . 29 . . 292 

The Seed . . ... . . 30 . . 298 

The Gathering . . . . . . 31 . . 307 

The Everlasting Theme and Occupation 31 . . 317 

The Finisher op the Faith . . . 31 . . 327 

Summary 342 



THE 



TWENTY-SECOND PSALM. 



Tf To the chief Musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, a Psalm 
of David. 

1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me ? why 
art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my 
roaring ? 

2 O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not ; 
and in the night season, and am not silent. 

3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of 
Israel. 

4 Our fathers trusted in thee : they trusted, and thou didst 
deliver them. 

5 They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they 
trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 

6 But 1 am 2L worm, and no man ; a reproach of men, 
and despised of the people. 

7 All they that see me laugh me to scorn ; they shoot out 
the lip, they shake the head, saying, 

8 He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him : let 
him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. 

9 But thou art he that took me out of the womb : thou 
didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breast. 

10 I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my 
God from my mother's belly. 

1* 



Vi THE TWENTY-SECOND PSALM» 

11 Be not far from me ; for trouble is near ; for tJiere is 
none to help, 

12 Many bulls have compassed me : strong bulls of 
Bashan have beset me round. 

13 They gaped upon me toith their mouths, as a ravening 
and a roaring lion. 

14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out 
of joint : my heart is like wax ; it is melted in the midst of 
my bowels. 

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my 
tongue cleaveth to my jaws ; and thou hast brought me into 
the dust of death. 

16 For dogs have compassed me ; the assembly of the 
wicked have inclosed me : they pierced my hands and my 
^eet, 

17 1 may tell all my bones : they look and stare upon me. 

18 They part my garments among them, and cast lots 
upon my vesture. 

19 But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my 
strength, haste thee to help me. 

20 Deliver my soul from the sword ; my darling from the 
power of the dog. 

21 Save me from the lion's mouth : for thou hast heard 
me from the horns of the unicorns. {Or, Save me from the 
lion's mouth, and from the horns of the unicorns. Thou 
hast heard me.) See Note, p. 197. 

22 I will declare thy name unto my brethren ; in the 
midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 



INTRODUCTORr EPISTLE. 



Christian Readers, 

Grace and peace be multiplied unto you, through 
the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord ! May 
you be " partakers of his sufferings, " only in such meas- 
ure as shall prepare you to bear " his exceeding weight 
of glory." The constant aim of the Apostle, should be 
ours also : — to " know the fellowship of Christ'^ sufferings, 
and to be made conformable unto his death," Phil. iii. 
10. " All Christians have been taught in one school," 
says an admirable author ; '* all have known the power 
of affliction in some of its varied forms, of inward conflict, 
or outward trouble. ^Before I was afflicted I went 
astray, but now,' is each of them ready to say, ' but now 
have I kept thy word.' I never prized it before. I could 
indeed scarcely be said to know it. I never understood 
its comfort until affliction expounded it to me. I never ^ 
till now saw its suitableness in my case."* 

Is this the reader's experience ? In some measure we 
trust it is, for we must all bear the cross before we can 
wear the crown. The " Book of Consolations" is pecu- 
liarly fitted to the disconsolate. The Saviour's gift of a 
" Comforter" is highly prized by the members of his 
Church when they are left cofnfortless. Whensoever, 
then, amid your trials, you turn to that Book, lift up your 
heart in secret earnest prayer for this gift. You shall 
thus obtain a double benefit by your affliction ; the Spirit 

* Bridges on Psalm cxix. ver. 67. See also ver. ?!• 



via INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE. 

will open your understanding to understand the Scrip- 
tures, and the key of spiritual knowledge thus put into 
your hand will open to you the Sanctuary of Chirstian 
sympathy, where you shall find the man of sorrows, 
whose tears will mingle with yours, and the sight of 
Avhose agonies will cause you to forget your own. 

The twenty-second psalm sets him before us in the 
darkest hour of his earthly history. His loud cry of 
agony attracts our attention to the passage in which it 
was foretold, and insensibly our minds are led on to the 
perusal of the whole psalm. It proves to be emphatically 
one of those passages in which the prophets, by the Spirit 
of Christ within them, testified beforehand the sufferings 
of Christ, and the glory that should follow, 1 Pet. i. 11. 
Thus the psalm beguiles the sorrow of the Christian, by 
exhibiting the untold sorrows of his Lord, and elevates 
his mind above all earthly trials as he proceeds, by ma- 
king him a partaker, through hope, of the glory that is 
yet to be revealed. With his stripes our souls are healed, 
Isa. liii. 5. We cannot murmur when we contemplate 
such an unmurmuring Master. Who will love sin any 
longer, after he has seen how it has pierced his Saviour? 
How can we call our afflictions severe, when we " con- 
sider him who endured such contradiction of sinners 
against himself?" Heb. xii. 3. 

The Author desires to commend this psalm of the Re- 
deemer's sorrow and joy to the frequent and attentive 
perusal of his fellow Christians. This humble endeav- 
our to unfold some of its contents, he designs only for 
those hours of spiritual depression, or of domestic or per- 
sonal affliction, when, criticism being disarmed, the reader 
looks only for a few simple words of consolation, or w^ould 
seek to lose remembrance of his soriows in contempla- 
ting those of the deeply tried fellow suflferer. He feels that 
much has been left unsaid. But as the volume is already 



INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE. IX 

larger than was anticipated, his object will be accom- 
plished if the views here presented may, through the 
gracious Spirit, impart consolation even to a single indi- 
vidual, and by their imperfection incite others to turn 
aside and comtemplate for themselves this great sight, 
which a saint of old beheld under the appropriate emblem 
of " a bush burning and not consumed," Exodus iii. 2. 

As the psalm does not refer to the whole of the period 
in which our blessed Lord hung upon the cross, the 
reader is requested to set before his mind part of the pre- 
vious history and circumstances. It is supposed that our 
divine Surety was crucified about, or not long after, nine 
o'clock in the morning. Immediately on his being nailed 
to the cross, we conceive that our merciful High Priest 
prayed for his murderers, " Father, forgive them, for they 
know not what they do," Luke xxiii. 34. After he had 
hung some little time on the cross, our Lord affectionately 
consigned his mother to the care of the beloved disciple 
John, saying to the one, " Behold thy son," and to the 
other, "Behold thy mother," John xix. 26, 27. Next 
after this, and before midday, it is probable that our Lord 
accepted the prayer of the penitent thief with this gracious 
assurance, " To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise," 
Luke xxiii. 43. At the sixth hour, that is, in our reckoning, 
at twelve o'clock, the supernatural darkness commenced. 
Instead of meridian brightness, there was a solemn 
gloom for about three hours. The moon being then at 
the ftill, the darkness could not possibly be caused by an 
eclipse, which, besides, never continues for so long a 
period. From twelve o'clock till three our blessed Lord 
appears to have been silent, enduring a great inward 
conflict. About the ninth hour, that is, about three 
o'clock, he gave utterance to his feelings in the first words 
of this psalm, " My God ! my God ! why hast thou for- 
saken me ?" From this we infer that he applied the 



X INTROCUCTORY EPISTLE. 

psalm to himself. And as it was usual at that period 
for the Hebrews to quote the commencement of a psalm 
in an audible manner, in order that those around might 
join in its mental or vocal repetition, we have some rea- 
son to conclude that our dying Redeemer occupied his 
thoughts with "speaking to himself," and to God, in the 
words of this psalm, Eph. v. 19. The appUcability of 
every sentence of it to his condition, strengthens that 
opinion. This is the view attempted to be set forth in 
the following exposition.* We conceive that our Lord, 
while under the darkness and desertion, repeated, after 
his loud cry, the remainder of this psalm, and that in the 
19th, 20th, and 21st verses, he plead so importunately for 
the immediate return of his Father's comforting presence, 
that light brake forth instantly, and then he mentally 
exclaimed, " Thou hast heard me !" The supernatural 
gloom was dispelled from the face of nature, and the 
light and peace of the Father's countenance were restored 
to the heart of Christ. In gratitude and joy our Lord 
continued to repeat to himself the remainder of the psalm ; 
expressly declared that " God hath not hid his face from 
him," verse 24; and he affirmed his determination to 
"pay his vows." As he repeated this thought of the 
25th verse, we conceive that in accordance with it, Jesus 
exclaimed, "I thirst," for St. John informs us that this 
was prompted rather by a sense of duty, than an impulse 
of nature. Continuing the course of the psalm, the Sa- 
viour's heart was comforted with the vision of joy that 
was set before him, Heb. xii. 2. He saw of the travail 
of his soul, Isa. liii. 11, and was satisfied to witness the 
whole earth filled with the knowledge of the glory of 

* While preparing this for the press, the author met with " A Plain 
Exposition of the New Testament," by the Rev. Thomas Boys, M.A., 
and feels happy to refer the reader to that excellent volume for a similar 
view given of this psalm in the comments on the 19th chapter of St. John. 



INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE. lU 

God, and all nations rendering the homage of Christian 
worship, ver. 27 — 29. He beheld his seed celebrating 
his righteousness through time and through eternity, and 
exulting in the glorious truth that he had perfectly "ful- 
filled it," ver. 31. Here the psalm terminates, and we 
conceive that our blessed Master, as if satisfied with this 
sight, and conscious that all the work of suffering and 
of obedience in his mortal life was completed, now gave 
utterance to the second " loud voice," and, in accordance 
with this everlasting testimony of his Church, exclaimed, 
" It is finished !" Having said this, the Saviour of the 
world bowed his head, and of his own accord gave up 
that life which no man could take from him, John x. 
18 : for, breathing out his soul, he said, " Father, into 
thy hands I commend my spirit," Luke xxiii. 46. 

This psalm depicts the Saviour's condition, and un- 
folds his mental history, from the period of the first loud 
cry to that of the second. It opens with sorrow, and con- 
cludes with joy. Its time is but those few minutes 
which its meditative and deliberate perusal would occu- 
py. It commences with that most severe of all his trials, 
the hiding of his Father's face, and terminates with a 
vision of his everlasting felicity in his Church. The 
change in the middle of the psalm is most important 
and consolatory. It teaches that the Redeemer did not 
die under darkness. It assures us that his latest mo- 
ments were those of peace and communion, not of per- 
turbation and estrangement. The Christian's heart re- 
joices to know that his adorable and gracious Lord 
departed not out of this life in bitter anguish of spirit, 
complaining that his Father had forsaken him, but in 
gratitude and exultation of soul, testifying that he had 
not hid his face from him, but had heard and answered 
his petition, verse 24. 

We are now, Christian reader, about to consider the 



Xll INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE. 

most important and mysterious part of our Lord's impor- 
tant and mysterious life. Yet let no Christian shrink 
from the contemplation of the " great mystery of godU- 
ness, God manifest in the flesh," 1 Tim. iii. 16. So far 
as it is " revealed," it " belongs unto us," Deut. xxix. 29. 
Remember, also, that there is nothing mysterious in it- 
self Knowledge, like the light, makes all things plain. 
Mystery is but a watchword of creature ignorance. As 
we advance from the lowest scale of being to the high- 
est, we find that every rank calls that above it a mystery, 
and that beneath it a simplicity. God looks down from 
the height of being, and deems universal nature a sim- 
plicity. He only, whose name is " I am that I am," is 
the great mystery of eternity. '' We shall understand 
all mysteries and all knowledge," 1 Cor. xiii. 2, but we 
shall be ever learning something further of the mystery 
of the Godhead, which passes knowledge. "What we 
shall learn regarding God, shall instantly cease to be 
mysterious, and we shall plainly and fully comprehend 
it. What we shall not have learned concerning the Di- 
vine Being will appear so mysterious and wonderful, 
that the fresh zest of inquiry shall be kept eternally ahve. 
Thus our reverential love and adoring admiration of God, 
shall be continually increasing, and the happiness of 
heaven augmenting without end. The ecstatic sensa- 
tion of discovery, and the high delight of intelligent in- 
quiry, will co-exist in our breasts, and impart to eternity 
the appearance and feeling neither of a past, nor of a fu- 
ture, but of a full and satisfactory present. If thus it 
shall prove in eternity, so ought it to be in time. " Grow," 
says the apostle, " in the knowledge of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ," 2 Pet. iii. 18. The Spirit of light 
is promised by him as a guide into all truth. Let us, 
therefore, " search the Scriptures, for they testify of 
Jesus," John v. 39, The reading of the Word is one 



INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE. XIU 

of the ordinances of God's appointment for the benefit of 
our souls. While engaged in its perusal, and at all times, 
let us constantly pray that God would " illuminate our 
minds and understandings with the bright beams of his 
Holy Spirit, that we may daily grow in the saving 
knowledge of the heavenly mystery of our redemption, 
wrought by our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." — 
Lord Bacon^s Prayers, This Psalm brings that re- 
demption, and this Saviour, vividly before our view. 
That its perusal may be accompanied with greater bene- 
fit, we would humbly suggest the following as topics for 
meditation. 

Endeavour to bring fully before your mind. First, the 
Sufferer, the Lord Jesus Christ, God over all, in your 
nature, dying as your Surety. Second, the Cause of 
suflfering, sin ; your sin, and the sin of the world. Third, 
the Agents, the Law, Satan, Man, and God. Fourth, 
the Reality of Christ's sufferings; not a mere appear- 
ance of sorrow, but a real, acute, and exquisite sense of 
bodily agony, and of mental anguish. Fifth, the Place, 
Golgotha, the hill of skulls — Calvary, the mount without 
the walls of Jerusalem, where criminals were put to 
death. Sixth, the Circumstances ; a public execu- 
tion, — three crosses, and three crucified thereon, — two for 
theft, — one in the midst, for sedition and blasphemy, 
even Jesus our blessed Saviour, condemned alike in the 
spiritual and criminal courts of his native country : his 
back, excoriated by the scourge, pressing on the wood, 
his hands and his feet pierced with nails, his suflTerings 
mocked, his character vihfied, his strength exhausted, 
his soul deserted, and his spirit assailed by the tempta- 
tions of Satan. 

When these have been well considered, endeavour 
next to enter into the feelings of that Holy One, who en- 
dured them all. Consider the unparalleled posi- 

2 



XIV INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE. 

TiON iu which the blessed Jesus found himself placed 
when hanging on the cross. Contemplate this position, 
and his feelings, in reference. First, to his own Godhead 
and manhood. When the Second Person in the Holy 
Trinity took our nature upon him, he did not lay aside 
his Godhead ; he laid aside only the exhibition of its 
glorious presence and power. In all his words and mira- 
cles, he spake and acted by the power of the Father and 
the Holy Ghost. He glorified God by an invariable ref- 
erence to him. " The words that I speak unto you I 
speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in 
me, he doeth the works," John xiv. 10. Now, also on 
the cross, when his body and soul sunk to their lowest 
possible condition, he would not have recourse to his own 
Godhead power to rescue and deliver them, but waited 
patiently upon his Father in the exercise of faith and 
prayer. He sought not the glory of deliverance for him- 
self. He kept the Almighty power of his Godhead in 
silent union with the utter weakness of his manhood, and 
suffered not the accuser to say that he used undue ad- 
vantage in the combat. 

Second, in reference to God the Father, and the Holy 
Spirit. These two persons in the Sacred Trinity rejoiced 
in God the Son's taking our nature. During his life on 
earth, they had uninterrupted and intimate communion 
with him, in his human soul ; but when the sin of the 
world was laid upon that body and soul which Jesus of- 
fered up on the cross, they judicially withdrew their com- 
forting presence, and refrained from communing with 
him in that human soul. Observe that it was on]yjudi' 
dally. Christ was still dear to the heart of the Father. 
Nay, if possible, most dear now, because most obedient. 
And mark this, that he took our nature into union with 
his Godhead, but only took our sin upon that humanity 
which he had appropriated to himself. Sin could not be 



INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE. XV 

taken into his holy nature, no more than darkness can 
be taken into light. But it was laid upon him by impu- 
tation, and because he had taken it upon him, he suffered 
all that it deserved. The desertion was a judicial act 
on the part of God towards sin. Christ suffered that de- 
sertion of the Father and of the Holy Spirit, because he 
had made himself to be sin for us, 2 Cor. v. 21. The 
wrath of God, therefore, is by no means to be regarded 
as directed against the bearer, but only against the bur- 
den. Yet, because he bound it fast upon him, he did 
actually suffer that desertion which it merited. 

Third, in reference to the angels. These ministering 
spirits were not allowed to draw near to the dying and 
deserted Jesus. Even that angel who had strengthened 
him in Gethsemane was compelled to close his half-spread 
wing, and leave him all alone. Christ, at this moment, 
was a solitary in the universe of being. 

Fourth, in reference to the Law. The Son of God 
had made himself to be born under the law. Gal. iv. 4, 
and now he was dying under its curse, chap. iii. 13. 
The shame and infamy of being hanged on a tree, was 
the last and most severe of all the curses which the law 
of God and man denounced, Deut. xxi. 22, 23. 

Fifth, in reference to man. Though bone of our bone, 
and flesh of our flesh, there was no man that would help 
him. His own disciples had fled, and a host of enemies 
and bitter revilers now surrounded him, and with cruel 
hatred nailed him to the tree. 

Lastly, in reference to devils. " This was the hour 
and power of darkness," Luke xxii. 53. If a legion of 
evil spirits could possess the body of one demoniac, 
(Mark v. 9 ; Matt. xii. 45,) who shall number the hosts 
which Satan brought against the Captain of our salva- 
tion ? Heb. ii. 10. It was necessary that he should be 
tried in all points. The Adversary must not have it in 



XVI INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE. 

his power to say that the Son of Man had not been fairly, 
or fully, tried : no room for his insinuation must be left, 
that Christ would have fallen like the fathers, if he had 
only been tempted and tried as they were. Therefore 
Christ was expressly " led up of the Spirit to be tempt- 
ed of the devil," Matt. iv. 1. ^'Consider that immacu- 
late Lamb tempted by Satan to distrust his Father's care, 
and turn the stones into bread ; then to presume upon 
that care, and cast himself down from a pinnacle of the 
temple; and then to deny his Father altogether, and 
worship the devil in preference ! How horrible must such 
suggestions be to his holy soul !" — Simeon's Sermons. 
Now, 'while being crucified through weakness, 2 Cor. 
xiii. 4, he gave himself, and was given by the Father 
and the Holy Spirit, into the hand of the Powers of 
Darkness, that, defeating all their attempts, he might 
triumph over them openly. Col. ii. 15. This was the 
hour of which the Saviour forewarned his disciples on 
the previous evening. ^' The prince of this world cometh, 
and hath nothing in me," John xiv. 30. It is probable 
that Satan led on his grand attack, under cover of the 
darkness. Doubtless as an experienced general, he would 
seize the most favourable moment. No sooner had the 
comforting presence of God been withdrawn from the 
Redeemer, than the prince of the fallen spirits would 
summon them to the assault. Rulers, principalities, and 
powers, every fiend and evil spirit of hell, came round 
the holy human soul of Jesus, and did their utmost, 
during these three hours of darkness, to gain an entrance ; 
but not one of them could find any thing in Christ con- 
genial to their own natures, on which to work. As hov- 
ering cavalry in the battle, by desperate charges, attempt 
to break the square of the enemy, so these spiritual foes, 
rtishing at all points, and with all kinds of temptations, 
upon this only solid square of hoUness which our world 



INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE. XVll 

has ever seen, received that defeat themselves which they 
intended to give, and fell back with a recoil of everlast- 
ing dismay. It was not by an exertion of his almighty 
strength that the Saviom* prevailed, but by his invincible 
holiness, and trust in God. In the world of spirits, good 
and evil are as repugnant and hostile to each other, as 
fire and water are in this world of matter. The pres- 
ence, therefore, of a perfectly holy being on our earth, 
must have proved a source of constant misery to Satan 
and his evil spirits. Observe how they dread his ap- 
proach, cry out at the sound of his voice, and address 
him by that name which was most cognizable to their 
own apprehensions and abhorrence : " We know thee, 
who thou art, the Holy One of God," Mark i. 24 ; Luke 
iv. 34. It was his holiness from which they shrunk ; 
and it was by his unsullied holiness that he proved more 
than a conqueror over them in death. 

Let, then, this unparalleled situation in which youi 
Lord and Saviour was placed, while hanging on the 
cross, be more and more fully realized by frequent medi- 
tation. Remember, that he was tried in all points like as 
we are, yet without sin, Heb. iv. 15. This was the last 
trial to which he was subjected, as the Foundation-stone 
of that eternal temple which God was about to lay. 
" Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone, a tried 
stone," Isa. xxviii. 16. The prince of this world, and 
all the powers of darkness tried it, and found nothing. 
Man tried it with every ordeal he could think of, and 
found NOTHING. The law tried it with its ten com- 
mandments, and its sharpest curse, and found noth- 
ing. God the Father, and God the Spirit, tried it by the 
severest test of their withdrawal, and found nothing. 
Consider what must have been the holy Saviour's feel- 
ings while enduring this unexampled trial ! 

Meditate much and often on the sufferings of your 



XVlll INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE. 

Lord: You may thus need less personal suffering to 
teach you to hate the sin that caused them. In all his 
afflictions be thou afflicted. Be not estranged in sym- 
pathy from the best friend of your soul. Live only to be 
like him. Let the first desire of your heart be fixed on 
the attainmemt of holiness. All the bitter sorrows which 
your Surety endured for you, were intended to deliver 
you from the pollution of sin. All your own personal af- 
flictions are designed to make you " partakers of his ho- 
liness," Heb. xii. 10. Seek, then, earnestly seek, aftec 
holiness. The noblest and most exalted wish which the 
heart can entertain, is, that it may be made pure and 
holy. The sullied streamlet hastens to sink every im- 
purity, and to flow on in the limpid transparency of its 
fountain-head. Look ever to the Fountain Head of your 
everlasting being. Think often of the unsullied purity 
of the Divine nature, of which even the lucid light is an 
inadequate representation. Then turn and meditate on 
what thou hast become by sin ; defiled in mind and con- 
science, Tit. i. 15 ; in heart by evil thoughts, covetous- 
ness, deceit, an evil or envious eye, pride, foolishness, not 
to mention grosser offences, Mark vii. 21, 22 ; James 
iii. 6. Pray to the Spirit of holiness to teach you to hate 
this defiled condition of your nature. Pray to be enabled 
to " see " so much of the purity of " God," that like Job 
you may at last be brought to ^^ abhor " yourself. Job 
xlii. 6. That this self-abhorrence and inward sorrow 
may work not death, but repentance to salvation, 2 Cor. 
vii. 10, still pray for the Spirit of holiness to enable you 
to look upon Him whom you have pierced. The bitter- 
ness of your mourning for him, Zech. xii. 12, will, by 
the quickening Spirit, awaken within you a holy grati- 
tude that he should have mourned for you. This grand 
proof of his love will constrain you to live no longer to 
yourself, but to him that died for you, and rose again, 



INTRODUCTORY EPISTLE. XIX 

2 Cor. V. 14. The promises of his grace will incite you 
to " cleanse yourself from all filthiness of the flesh and 
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God," 2 Cor. 
vii. 1. And the words of your God and Redeemer, " Be 
ye holy, for I am holy," 1 Pet. i. 16, will obtain an uni- 
versal response from every part of your nature, " Your 
heart and flesh will cry out for the living God," Psa. 
Ixxxiv. 2. Look ever upward. The Saviour's address 
to each of us is, " Look unto me, and be ye saved." Let 
us never turn away from the contemplation of the Sa- 
viour's sorrow and the Saviour's glory. By "looking 
unto Jesus," the Christain rises, like the nautilus, from 
his dark and native depths, to the pure atmosphere and 
warm sunshine of an upper world, spreads forth his tiny 
sails of faith, and hope, and love, and is gently wafted 
over the waters of life by the balmy gales of grace. On- 
ward he glides, beautiful in movement, and joyful in his 
new existence, so long as the heavy waters of this world 
are excluded : that moment he imbibes them he sinks. 
Be not conformed, then, dear Christian readers, to this 
world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your 
mind, Rom. xii. 2. Seek the things that are above, 
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, Col. iii. 1. 
That the Spirit of Christ may rest upon you, that the 
blessing of the Father of mercies may descend on you, 
and that when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, ye 
also may all appear with him in glory, Col. iii. 4, is the 
earnest prayer of your grateful and humble servant in 
the gospel, 

THE AUTHOR. 



THE TITLE OF THE PSALM. 



Tf To the chief Mmician upon Aijeleth Shahar, (or, the hind 
of the morning J margin ;) a Psalm of David, 

Various opinions are entertained by the learned in 
reference to those titles which stand prelSxed to the ma- 
jority of the Psalms. The safest conclusion is, that 
where they do not explain themselves, we must regard 
every other explanation as entirely conjectural. Such 
titles, as, for instance, among others, those of Psalms 3, 
57, 60, 92, must be kept in view by every reader who 
would understand them fully. The circumstances in 
which they were written, and the object they were in- 
tended to serve, are thus communicated at a glance. 
But there are many titles, like that before us, to which, 
at this distant day, it is impossible to attach a definite 
and indisputable signification. 

This title may be understood, as in the text, in refer- 
ence to an instrument called ^' Aijeleth Shahar," upon 
which this psalm was to be played by the chief Musician. 
Others give an English translation to these Hebrew terms, 
as in the margin, and conclude that David gave this 
Psalm to the chief Musician, as one which he had writ- 
ten " concerning the hind of the morning," in allusion to 
the Messiah, who was cruelly hunted to death, but who 
escaped from the hands of the wicked in the morning of 
the resurrection. It appears incongruous that a femi- 
nine noun and emblem should be employed where the 
Messiah is intended, and therefore others give an entirely 
diflferent translation to this title. In harmony with the 
Chaldee Paraphrast, and following Aquila and Jerome, 



THE TITLE OF THE PSALM. XXI 

they understand the term " Lemanetsach/' "To the 
chief Musician," in the general sense of exceUing, and 
not necessarily as limited to excellency in one depart- 
ment only, as that of music. They therefore interpret 
it, " To the Triumpher — To the Victor, or Giver of Vic- 
tory, and. To the Conqueror." In this latter sense. Park- 
hurst and Bishop Horsley receive it, and the terms " Aije- 
leth Shahar," they render, " Concerning the interposition 
of the dusk," or such darkness as prevails at dawn of 
day. "The scene of this Psalm is the crucifixion of 
Christ," says Parkhurst, " when the Divine Light ap- 
peared almost overwhelmed by the interposing powers 
of darkness, and when the ^/r/, sympathising with his 
great antitype^ was darkened for three hours, and afford- 
ed to all behevers a sensible and affecting image of what 
the Smi of Righteousness then endured." Compare 
Luke xxii. 53, with xxiii. 44, 45. See also Parkhurst's 
Hebrew Lexicon, p. 617. 

Could strict criticism maintain this interpretation, wx 
should request the reader to receive it without hesitation. 
It harmonizes with the view we have taken of the 
Psalm, from its own internal evidence, and furnishes this 
idea, that the darkness at the crucifixion was not total, 
but such as exists at the earliest part of the morning. 
We are compelled, however, to conclude that though 
most interesting and appropriate, it is only an ingenious 
and beautiful conjecture. 

" A Psalm of David." David, as the author of this 
and other Psalms, may be regarded in a fourfold view. 
1. As a prophet, inspired by the Holy Ghost to utter the 
mind and will of God. 2. As a man, expressing the 
thoughts, the wants, and feelings, which existed in his 
breast, or were suggested by his circumstances. 3. As a 
type of Messiah, and, 4. As a pattern of believers. In 
the inditing of this Psalm, we regard him in the first 



XXll THE TITLE OF THE PSALM. 

view. As we become partakers of Christ's sujflferings, by 
sanctified personal experience of trial and sorrows, so be- 
lievers and prophets of old were admitted to the same 
fellowship, in the same manner. While each inspired 
prophet wrote as he felt, and attached his own meaning 
to his own words, the Spirit of God directed these feel- 
ings and these words, according to his own high design. 
It hence became a deeply interesting occupation to these 
prophets to inquire and search diligently what the Spirit 
within them did signify, by that which he had inspired 
them to write, 1 Pet. i. 10, 11. This, also, is our happy 
employment in the perusal of the Old Testament. 
" Search the Scriptures," says our blessed Saviour, " for 
they are they which testify of me," John v. 39. It was 
the great object of his own ministry to expound the ref- 
erence which these Scriptures bore to himself, Luke xxiv. 
25 — 27, 44 ; iv. 17 — 21. The apostles and evangehsts 
invariably interpreted them with the same reference. 
Acts ii. 25 ; iii. 18 ; xiii. 32, 33 ; viii. 35. And the pen 
of inspiration has declared that " the testimony of Jesus 
is the spirit of prophecy," Rev. xix. 10. Adhering to 
this sCriptu rally prescribed subject of exposition, we have 
not alluded to the circumstances of David as the author 
of the Psalm ; nor indeed is it possible now to determine 
the time or circumstances in which it was composed, nor 
shall we trouble the reader wtth the various conjectures 
which have been formed. We have thought it more 
important to consider the Psalm purely in its prophetic 
import, and to fix the attention of the reader, without 
distraction, upon the Saviour. For David being a 
prophet, and knowing that Christ would be raised up, 
and seeing these things beforehand, spake of his suffer- 
ings, and foretold his glory. Compare Acts ii. 30, 31, 
with 1 Pet. i. 11. 



CHRIST ON THE CROSS IN DARKNESS. 



THE CRY. 



Verse 1. — My God^ my God, why hast thou forsaken me 7 why 
art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my 
roaring? 

How solemiij how mysterious, O Christian ! are these 
affecting words ! They absorb the mind ; they over- 
power the heart ! The view they present is almost too 
awful to be reaUzed. It is difficult to persuade ourselves 
of the two facts which they imply. Can it be true, that 
the Father of mercies forsakes any human being on this 
side of the grave ? Is it possible, that when deserted by 
the great God, man can address him in the language of 
affiance? 

Go to Golgotha, Christian. Behold the amazing re- 
ality. Learn the unsearchable mystery. God's last 
and severest infliction, and faith's strongest and highest 
act, are being there displayed. Let the evangeUsts con- 
duct thee in thought to Mount Calvary. Imagine thy- 
self to have been present when the great atonement was 
offered. That was the judgment-day of the Saviour of 
the world. At the tribunals of men he was condemned 
— under their sentence he was being executed: and 
while his body hung in torture on the cross, he was 
arraigned in spirit before the bar of God, under the im- 
putation of human guilt. The court of heaven de- 
scended, as it were, to Mount Calvary, the strong voice 
from the cross rends the veil that hides the unseen world 



24 THE CRY. 

from our view. We behold the great God at the dread 
moment when the last sentence has been pronounced. 
These awful words, " Let the law take its course," have 
just been uttered. The eternal Judge appears with his 
face turned away, as if about to leave the throne of 
justice, unable to exercise the Divine prerogative of 
mercy. An agonizing cry thrills every heart, arrests 
every attention, " El-i, El-i, lama sabacthani — My God, 
my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Inquiring 
angels and men ask. Who is this that is condemned? 
and with unutterable astonishment they learn that it is 
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, — He who had always 
loved and served his Father ; whose filial heart had 
never s^lrerved from its allegiance; whose whole life, 
from his cradle to this dying moment, was one uninter- 
rupted flow of holy love and obedience. It is this Jesus, 
who in the beginning was with God, who is God ; who is 
the only begotten, the beloved of the Father, that utters 
this astounding cry. Matt, xxvii. 46, and Mark xv. 34. 

Whom does he address ? His own Father, from whose 
bosom he had come forth. He who had sent angels to 
minister unto him ; who had never before " left him 
alone, being always with him," John xvi. 32. — He 
whose voice had twice been heard from heaven, saying, 
"This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," 
Matt. iii. 17; xvii. 5, even He was now withdrawn. 

How does he implore his return ? First, with a sud- 
den, loud, and piercing cry. Christ had been silent 
from the commencement of the darkness. The conflict 
was inward, deep, and overpowering. He was dumb ; 
he opened not his mouth. For nearly three hours he 
uttered not a word. At last his grief burst forth. He 
could be silent no longer. With a loud cry he gave 
vent to his sorrow. That voice was not more audible to 
the ears of his murderers, than it was piercing to the 



THE CRY. 25 

heart of his disciples and of his Father. Devils, too, 
heard his cry of unshaken faith. They perceived how 
he could appeal to his Father against all their insinua- 
tions. They were dismayed and seized with despair. 
Men were struck with wonder at his still remaining 
strength. Mary and her believing companions must 
have felt that cry thrill within their inmost hearts. And 
surely to his own Father in heaven it must have come 
with persuasive and affecting force ; for it was the most 
doleful cry he had ever heard from a human voice. 

Secondly, With the language of adoptio7i; with the 
confidence of faith. ^^ My Gcd, my God.'*' This is not 
the agonizing cry of a creature struggling with an un- 
known power, and amid its anxious efforts to escape, 
reiterating O God, O God. It is the cry of a child seek- 
ing to be rescued from the grasp of foes ; looking to- 
wards a distant parent, and sending across an intervening 
gulf the fervent appeal of its confiding claim. It is the 
cry of conscious innocence, which knows not a cause 
for estrangement, which casts itself upon the being it 
loves, and thinks not of a repulse. It is the cry of one 
suddenly surrounded by circumstances never before ex- 
perienced. The outpouring of a deep, inward, long- 
pent grief. The unburdening of a heart which but for 
words would break, which but for faith would never 
gain relief, or cry, " My God, my God." 

Thirdly, With the accent of interrogation, " Why 
hast thou forsaken me? Which of these words bears 
most of the emphasis of the Saviour's meaning ? Does 
he denounce the act ? Does he say, '• Why hast thou 
forsaken me ?" By no means. For if Job could say, 
'^Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him," Job 
xiii. 15 ; much more may Jesus declare, " Though he 
forsake me, yet will I submit." Does he set forward 
self? ^' Why hast thou forsaken me ?" Such language 

3 



26 THE CRY, 

was altogether foreign to his lip. The meek intonations 
of the Saviour's voice were never swollen with the em- 
phasis of egotism. He who was lowly in heart never 
once urged a single personal consideration as an argu- 
ment with God or man. Concerning what, then, does 
the Redeemer principally inquire ? First, as to the reason, 
TFAy, for lohat hast thou forsaken me? Brought, as 
he was now, before a new tribunal, and experiencing a 
new infliction, our Lord, by this interrogation, maintains 
his innocence, challenges his adversaries to the proof, 
and inquires of the great Judge, what, and whether 
any, new charge has been preferred against him. Christ 
had been cleared at both judgment seats, even though 
condemned. In the spiritual court, when the contra- 
dictory testimony of false witnesses could substantiate 
nothing against him, the Saviour challenged the closest 
investigation, and called on Caiaphas to make impartial 
and full inquiry, John xviii. 21. In the criminal court, 
he needed not to utter a word in his own behalf, for even 
the judge pronounced him to be guiltless. " Pilate took 
water and washed his hands before the multitude, say- 
ing, I am innocent of the blood of this just person, see 
ye to it," Matt, xxvii. 24. But now that the Redeemer 
is brought before the judgment-seat of his Father, under 
the imputation of human guilt, and beholds the face of 
the Judge turned away from him, and that neither man 
nor angel offers a word on his behalf, he is entitled, and 
it fully becomes him, nay, in justice he is bound, to de- 
clare his innocence, and to demand if any new accusa- 
tion has been laid to his charge. — My God, my God, for 
what reason hast thou forsaken me ? 

Secondly, our Lord inquires as to the person. Why 
hast THOU forsaken me ? This was his burden ; this 
his grief. God was absent from him. His own Father 



THE CRY. 27 

was withdrawn ; and no cause had occurred to prevent 
his presence more than had previously existed. 

Fully did our Saviour know, and exquisitely did he 
feel the truth of that Scripture, '' In God's favour is hfe," 
Psa. XXX. 5. Under the hidings of his Father's face, 
the only begotten Son must have experienced what no 
human intellect can conceive, and which, if it did, no 
human language could express. One point in it, how- 
ever, ought particularly to be noticed as important in it- 
self, and as throwing light on this interrogation. It is, 
that this was an entirely new sensation, by which our 
Lord was now tried. For more than thirty years of his 
human life, the Redeemer possessed a blessed conscious- 
ness,, of his Father's presence, his Fathers love. No 
changeableness or shadow of turning had ever been ex- 
hibited towards him. Even in the garden of Geth- 
semane, the bitterness of the cup was mitigated, the 
darkness of the night was relieved, because there was 
one present there, to whom he could go and say, " My 
Father." But he had hung upon the cross for nigh six 
hours ; and now fiom midday, when the sun ought to 
have shone most brightly, the darkness had been in- 
creasing. For almost three hours it had continued ; 
and with the outward, the inward darkness seems to 
have commenced and terminated. The hiding of the 
sun accompanied and typified the hiding of the Father's 
countenance. As the one was new in the history of the 
world, so was the other in that of Christ. No natural 
eclipse — no overspreading cloud — no mere gloom of a 
temporary fog, occasioned that darkness. Neither was it 
pains of body — nor desertion of friends — nor exhaustion 
of spirit — nor the impatience of discontent — nor the de- 
spondency of unbelief, that overspread the mind of our 
Immanuel ^fith this feeling of lonehness. It was a 
supernatural obscuration of the solar light, that envel- 



28 THE CRY. 

oped the land with greyish darkness ; and it was a judi- 
cial withdrawal of the hght of God's countenance, that 
overcame the human soul of Jesus with this strange and 
overpowering sensation. The pains of crucifixion, the* 
forsaking of friends, the taunts of men, and the assaults 
of devils, were nothing in comparison with this. For 
almost six hours the powers of darkness had assailed 
his spirit with every variety of temptation. Men and 
devils availed themselves of the opportunity. His hour 
of weakness, 2 Cor. xiii. 4, was their " hour of power," 
Luke xxii. 53. Outwardly and inwardly the "fiery 
darts," Eph. vi. 16, were thrust at him. Neither God 
the Father, nor God the Spirit, appeared for his help. 
Instead of exercising his own Godhead power to anni- 
hilate his foes in a moment, Christ presented to them 
the broad shield of faith and breastplate of righteousness, 
and stood unmoved amid their fiercest onsets, immacu- 
late in his own holiness. Dreadfully assaulted as we 
read he was by man, he was doubtless more strongly 
assailed by spiritual foes. But he took no advantage 
over them from his almighty strength. He entered the 
combat as the second Adam ; allowed his enemies to ex- 
haust their utmost eflTorts of temptation ; gave himself 
into their hands as one vi/hom they could cause to die, 
but could not cause to sin : and by exhibiting the power 
of a pure and holy will, rejecting all and every kind of 
temptation, he rose where the first Adam fell, and proved 
himself to be " the Holy One of God." 

It is obvious that our Lord must have felt the trial. 
His human soul was incessantly called upon to reject 
innumerable and never-ending temptations. His body 
was quivering in every nerve — proud and taunting men 
encircled his cross — fierce and wicked spirits surrounded 
his human soul, which now enjoyed no sensible com- 
munion with the Father and the Holy Ghost. Dark 



THE CRY. 29 

ness, spiritual and raaterial, enveloped him ; — neither 
angels nor disciples afforded him the slightest aid in this 
last and awful conflict. No wonder, then, that he was 
speechless from the sixth hour until the ninth. His hu- 
man soul was engrossed with its unprecedented situation 
— it was bruised under the forsaking of God, — harassed 
with the assaults of foes, and oppressed with the ago- 
nizings of the flesh. His heart is so sore broken, that 
he cannot speak. But at last, when the fury of the 
enemy abates, and the first halt of their despairing 
efforts yields him breath, he exclaims, " My God, my 
God, w^hy hast thou forsaken me ?" 

When Christ here speaks of his being ^^ forsaken," he 
means that he was under a suspension of that joyful 
and intimate communion with the Most High, which he 
had always enjoyed up to this moment. God the 
Father, and God the Holy Spirit, had withdrawn all 
sensible influence from Christ's human nature. He 
therefore speaks according to that nature, because he felt 
according to it — he felt as a man. The great object of 
his life on earth, w^as not to glorify himself, but his 
Father ; therefore in all his miracles, we find him either 
calling on the Father's name, or acknow^ledging his 
power, or informing his disciples that the Father who 
dwxlt in him did the works, John xV. 10. Though 
possessing almighty power, it w^as his voluntary choice 
and determined purpose, not to avail himself of it on 
every occasion, but to live as a man acting in constant 
dependence upon God, and so to become a pattern or ex- 
ample for us to follow. Instead of opposing his omnipo- 
tence to blast all his enemies, he presented his innate 
holiness and simple trust on God, as that in which he 
could withstand all their assaults. And whether the 
sunshine of divine love be round him, or darkness and 
desertion envelop body and soul, he retains the same 

3* 



30 THE CRY. 

holy, confiding, and filially affianced heart that he had 
before. In the 42d chapter of the prophecy of Isaiah, 
the Father thus directs our attention to the Son : ^- Behold 
my servant, whom I uphold : mine elect, in whom my 
soul delighteth : I have put my Spirit upon him ;" and 
again, in the 5th and 6th verses, he directly addresses the 
Son : '^ I will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and 
will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a hght of 
the Gentiles." Christ in the flesh is thus exhibited to us 
in two respects. First, as one whom God '• upholds." 
And secondly, as one in whom his soul " dehghts." And 
the covenant which the Father stipulates to perform with 
and for the Son, is also set before us in a twofold view. 
Fii'st, " that he will hold his hand" and " keep" him. 
And secondly, that he " will give him for a covenant of 
the people, for a hght of the Gentiles." This passage of 
Scripture w^as doubtless well known to the Saviour. It 
formed, with many others, his title-deed and security in 
this great work of redemption. He not only knew it in 
the letter, he knew it also in the spirit. He had experi- 
enced its truth. He had tested its accuracy. He had 
for thirty years lived in the enjoyment of all that it prom- 
ised him. Sweetly and blessedly did the human soul of 
Jesus of Nazareth feel itself " upheld" by God. Not a 
moment was he destitute of the conscious " putting" and 
" resting" of the Spirit upon him. Every step in life the 
Son took, he found himself " kept" by omnipotent power, 
and by omniscient wisdom. His hand was held in a 
Father's grasp ; and scarcely a day passed in which he 
was not able to say to some sin-darkened soul, " I am 
given to be the light of the world." Endeavour to reahze 
to your mind the heavenly sensations of such a life as this. 
Its fulness of blessedness is greater than can be conceived. 
Set vividly, however, before your mind what little you can 
apprehend, and then imagine it to be suddenly suspended. 



THE CRY. 31 

The same Jesus that had enjoyed the whole of what 
God had promised, and of what God is. was now deprived 
of the comfort of these promises, and of the enjoyment 
of God's presence. Instead of upholding, he felt a with- 
drawal — instead of dehghtful communion, there was 
silence and desertion — instead of strengh, weakness — in- 
stead of light, darkness — instead of the Spirit, heaviness 
and oppression. Let us not imagine that the Father had 
ceased virtually to uphold the Son, or that his soul had 
now no delight in him. It could not be so. He was still 
surely, though not sensibly, upholding him ; he still felt 
the same delight in him. Nay, we may conceive that, 
if possible, love and approbation were increased in propor- 
tion as the obedience and dutifulness of the Son were ex- 
hibited. But God was not now holding him by the hand, 
and keeping him in the same sensible manner m which 
he had always done before. It was necessary that he 
who was the '- child born" should also be proved to be 
the '^mighty God." It was right, that he who had al- 
ways glorified the Father's power, should now be glori- 
fied in his own. Therefore, God the Father, and God 
the Spirit, withdrew the manifestations of their nearness 
and power, that the Saviour might be left to the exereise 
of his own resources. '-' Therefore, his (own) arm brought 
salvation unto him ; and his righteousness it sustained 
him. For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and 
an hemlet of salvation upon his head,'^ Isa. lix. 16, 17. 
Panoplied in this armour of proof, he presented himself to 
the hosts of darkness. On his helmed head, and on his 
plated breast, he laid the sin of the w^orld ; and though 
the curse of the law, and the lightning of God's WTath, 
and the terrors of the judgment that condemned that sin, 
were let loose against it, yet could they not touch him, or 
penetrate that coat of mail. His holiness could stand. 
No weapon formed against him could prosper. Devils 



32 THE CRY. 

did their utmost to find the smallest opening ; but his 
righteousness was perfect. They hated only the bearer 
— God hated only the burden. God's condemnation fell 
upon the load of imputed guilt. The strokes and shafts 
of the enemy were directed only against him who was 
taking it away. But the Saviour so held fast the sin 
that was laid upon him, that no distinction could be 
made. What the Father and the law directed against 
the sin, must needs fall on him : and what devils and 
men aimed at the Bearer, could not make him seek a dis- 
encumbered advantage in the conflict, by letting go the 
burden that oppressed him, but rather hastened him for- 
ward to that tomb where he would deposit it for ever, and 
lay it out of the way from between God and man. 

It was when left alone in this teirible conflict, that our 
Lord cried to his Father with this loud voice. He grieved 
not at the sorest of his other trials. For thousands of 
years he would be willing to endure them ; but to be 
excluded from the hght of his Father's countenance for a 
moment longer than was absolutely necessary, was what 
he could not and would not allow. Therefore he cries, 
" My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" 

Let us now consider the succeeding parts of this verse, 
as they stand in one connected whole, w^ith the first. 
They seem to be explanatory, as well as additional ex- 
clamations ; and assist us in understanding the meaning 
of our Lord's mysterious cry. We learn by them that 
he does not seek to exert his own Godhead power, and 
secure the glory of the victory to himself; — that it is no 
selfish cry, but one prompted by a filial desire to be helped 
of his Father, that the mighty Helper may have all the 
praise. And that it is not so much for his own satisfaction 
that he makes this inquiry, as for that of the members 
of his church, who thus learn at once two amazing facts : 
first, that their Lord was forsaken on the cross ; and, 



THE CRY. 33 

being hereby incited to inquire the reason, learn, in the 
second place, that he was forsaken on their account. 

"My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 
Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words 
of my roaring?" Here there are three inquiries. First, 
Why hast thou forsaken me ? second. Why art thou so 
far from helping me? third, And from the words of my 
roaring ? The appropriate answers to each of these fur- 
nish suitable and abundant matter for consideration. 

First, Why hast thou forsaken me ? Answer, Because 
thou art bearing the sins of the world, John i. 29. It 
has been truly said, no man knows the exceeding sin- 
fulness of sin, but he who learns it at the cross of Christ. 
That God should have so loved the world, as to give forth 
his own Son from his bosom on its behalf, teaches us how 
full and tender is his compassion towards fallen men. 
That the death of that Son should have been necessary 
before we could be saved, proves the inj3exible justice of 
the rigiiteous Judge, w^ho will not suffer his laws to be 
broken with impunity. But when that Son was dying 
on the cross, that the Father should hide his face from 
him, because of our iniquity, proves how revolting sin is 
to the holy nature of God. 

It was si?i which caused this new and strange sensa- 
tion in the heart of Christ. " The Lord had now laid, 
or caused to meet on him, the iniquities of us all," Isa. 
liii. 6. The victim was placed on the altar, and our guilt 
transferred to his innocent head. Though Christ volun- 
tarily placed himself in our room ; though men regarded 
him as a sinner ; yet till now he had not been so treated 
by his Father. It is written, " the Lord made his soul 
an offering for sin," Isa. liii. 10. The human soul of 
Jesus was offered, was given by the Persons of the Sacred 
Trinity on account of sin. The atonement is not only a 
plan of infinite wisdom, whereby the various attributes 



34 THE CRY. 

of the Godhead are brought into beautiful harmony — 
wherein " mercy and truth are met together ; righteous- 
ness and peace have kissed each other," Psa. Ixxxv. 10. 
— whereby " God might be just, and the justifier of him 
which believeth in Jesus," Rom. iii. 26 ; but it is a sacri- 
fice of something of infinite value ; it is a costly gift — the 
gift of that pure and holy human soul, as well as of that 
spotless body, which God the Son had taken into union 
with himself. As that •' prepared body" was visibly made 
an atoning sacrifice on the cross, as on an altar, so also 
was that holy soul made an offering for sin after an in- 
visible and spiritual manner. As that body went down 
into the grave of the earth, and was raised again to burst 
asunder the bonds of death : so that soul was delivered 
for sin under the grave of the curse, that it might rise 
again and deliver us from the power of spiritual death. 
The curse was, separation from the joy and light of God's 
countenance. This is what we deserve. Into this we 
fell ; but could not raise ourselves. Therefore, the Son 
of God took a human body and a human soul, and placed 
himself in this our fallen separated state — came under 
the curse — was excluded from God's presence, — but did 
make for himself, and for us, a way, a glorious way, out 
of spiritual death into spiritual life, out of the state of 
banishment, into that of union, peace, and joy. The 
atonement, therefore, is not a mere arrangement — not a 
mere contrivance for the adjustment of a diflicult ques 
tion. It is a matter of fact — a reality — an actual substi- 
tution — a real purchase, at an immeasurable expense on 
the part of the Godhead. The Father and the blessed 
Spirit gave the Son, and the Son gave himself, for man. 
During all the period of his fife they were with him, 
rejoicing and communing with him in his human soul. 
But here on the cross, they gave up that human soul — 
they ceased their communing with it — they made it their 



THE CRY. 35 

offeringj and Jesus made it his offering, for sin. Thus 
sin, which is a spiritual evil, as well as temporal — the law, 
which has a spiritual and temporal power — and man, 
the sinner, who has a spiritual and material nature — 
were fully and severally met in each of these respects, by 
the spiritual offering of the soul, and the temporal, visi- 
ble, and material offering of the body of the Lord Jesus 
Christ. And it was when this spiritual offering was being 
made, that our Lord experienced strange, new, and awful 
sensations. He had descended voluntarily into the very 
depths of the curse — tasted its every bitterness — and with 
this loud and agonizing cry, commenced his ascent up- 
wards from a condition in which his soul could not and 
would not remain. 

It was necessary that Christ should be acknowledged 
by God the Father as the sin-bearer, otherwise his sure- 
tyship could not avail for us. And so far as we know, 
the only mode by which a holy Being can express his 
recognition of a sinner, or of a sinner's surety, is by turn- 
ing from him, and causing the laws to be put in force 
against him. Thus did the Father act towards the Son ; 
that so sin, even when seen on one with whom he had 
always been well pleased, should not be treated in the 
slightest degree as less odious than it really is. The 
turning away of God's countenance, or that Divine aver- 
sion which we so denominate, though unseen by mortal 
eyes, was doubtless marked by those countless intelli- 
gences of other worlds who behold it in unveiled glory. 
Our faculties are too limited to comprehend the vast de- 
sign of God in this stupendous mystery of redemption. 
And we are generally too selfish to allow that its lessons 
extend far beyond ourselves. But angels inquiring into 
these things would learn, and in all his vast dominions 
created intelligences did learn, in this desertion of the 
crucified Son of God, that their Creator will by no means 



36 THE CRY. 

clear tlie guilty, Exod. xxxiv. 7. In the death of Jesus 
the myriads of superior beings would be taught that same 
lesson which God intended we should learn by the com- 
mandmentj that " sin is exceeding sinful,'' Rom. vii. 13. 
Therefore, it " pleased the Lord to bruise him." He it 
w^as who ^^ put him to grief," Isa. liii. 10. The spirit of 
Christ was wrung with anguish. We know how we 
feel under the charge of sin from man. How much 
more exquisitely must Christ have felt under the imputa- 
tion of sin from God ! 

The imputation of sin to Christ is no idle tale. It is 
no fond unwarranted idea in the believer's mind ; — a 
mere nominal transference, effected by the insertion of a 
few figures on the debit and credit side of the eternal 
reckoning. It was a real transaction between the Father 
and the Son. It was a business of life and death in 
which our Surety was engaged. Our case is certainly 
not an ideal one. Every day gives us fresh proofs by 
pain, sorrow, sickness, and death, that sin is something 
more than a mere word. We feel that we are bound 
under its curse. And when Christ undertook to deliver 
us, he w^as fully aware of this. He knew what he had 
undertaken ; therefore he placed himself under the law, 
and under the curse of the law. He took up the burden 
of sin, yet he loathed it in his heart. He felt its odious 
weight upon his spirit, but having taken it, it was reck- 
oned his. And the Father treated him accordingly. 
The Lord bruised him ; God turned away from him ; 
God refused for a time to speak with him. And Christ 
must have felt somewhat as we do when a fellow-crea- 
ture lays a crime to our charge, and turns from us when 
we address him. In our case, the corruption of nature 
turns to our reUef. The workings of pride and anger 
form a seasonable though sinful counteraction to our 
mortified feelings. But it could not be so with Christ. 



THE CRY. 37 

He tasted the unmitigated bitterness of the curse. His 
were unmixed feelings of sorrow. Sin itself grieved him. 
He mourned that God should have been so dishonoured. 
He hated it not merely in its consequences, but in its es- 
sence. He knew that the great Judge, before whom he 
stood, did not abhor him, but the burden which he bore. 
His own soul detested it in an equal degree. Yet he 
girt it so to him that no separation could be effected. 
He made himself so one with our case and cause, that 
all that we deserved lighted upon him. Let us keep 
this distinction clearly before our minds. Christ's person 
was still as holy and acceptable to the Father as before. 
The divine wrath could not, and did not, burn against 
him ; but it waxed hot against the sins of man. And 
since Christ took these sins upon his own head, he must 
be content to suffer all the consequences which they en- 
tailed. And he was Content to suffer all, and with a 
ready hand he took the cup and drank it to the dregs. 
But when he had drank that cup, and when he had 
wrung out its bitterest ingredients, he was not content — 
we speak it deliberately and with reverence — he was not 
content, neither was his Father, that it should be held 
to his lips for ever. He was now tasting a kind of spirit- 
ual death. As corporal death is the separation of the 
body from the soul, so spiritual death is the soul's separa- 
tion from God. Here is the mystery of Christ's crucifix- 
ion and loud cry ; that his human soul was separated 
from his Father's presence ; that he was made to experi- 
ence exclusion and banishment from God's face. But 
herein lies the mystery of our redemption by that cruci- 
fixion, that Christ was not willing to remain for ever 
separated from God ; and by the energy of his own ho- 
liness did wrestle with an agonizing earnestness and im- 
portunity of entreaty till he was restored again to the 
enjoyment of that presence. He willingly endured that 

4 



38 THE CRY. 

curse for us, and as willingly pressed back again into 
that presence from which he had suffered it to exclude 
him for a time. Let a mere man be once forsaken by 
his Creator, he never can recover himself This is the 
grand prerogative of the God-man, that though sub- 
merged in the lowest depths, he can rise again by in- 
herent power. "He has life in himself" Therefore, 
though the concentrated wrath of God were let loose 
against the sins of men, and while that wrath was not 
in the slightest decree diminished because these sins 
w^ere taken up by One with whom the Father was well 
pleased, yet did it not cast the sinners that committed it 
into instant and eternal ruin, because one interposed him- 
self who could bear up under it all. His power of holi- 
ness could sustain and bear away the double load of sin 
and of desertion, but his heart was broken under it. Say 
not that, being God, he could not feel, for remember 
what he exclaimed when the sins of the world were laid 
upon his head, " My God, my God, why hast thou for 
saken me?" 

Second. " Why art thou so far from helping me ?" 
Answer. That the victory may be altogether thine 
own. 

Of the many remarkable points in the character of 
Christ our Saviour, his constant glorifying of God the 
Father is not the least worthy of observation. It is de- 
hghtful to contemplate how filial reverence pervades eve- 
ry word and action of his life. His renunciation of self, 
his apparent forgetfulness that he had a separate exist- 
ence to think of or to set forth :— -his full, cordial; and 
never omitted reference to his Father, as the power by 
whom he spake words of life, and wrought miracles of 
healing ; as the Being for whom alone he lived ; is the 
most perfect picture of sonship that the world has ever 
seen, or that the human mind can possibly conceive. 



THE CRY. 39 

How plainly does he tell the Jews, '- 1 can of my own 
self do nothing," John v. 30. When charged with hav- 
ing a devil, how meekly he replies, how like a son, " I 
have not a devil, but I honour my Father," John viii. 49. 
So entirely does he lose sight of self, so fully does he seem 
to recognize his own identity only in that of the Father, 
that he spake to his disciples as if they should also by 
this time be able to do the same, ^' If ye had known me, 
ye should have known my Father also ; and from hence- 
forth ye know him and have seen him." How amazed, 
how almost indignant, is he at their contented ignorance, 
embodied in the answer of Philip, "Lord, show us the 
Father, and it sufficeth us ;" for he exclaims, " Have I 
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known 
me, Philip ? he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father ; 
and how sayest thou then. Show us the Father? Be- 
lievest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father 
in me? the Avords that I speak unto you, I speak not of 
myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the 
works," John xiv. 9 — 11. 

This living with, and for another, is the perfection of 
creature existence — that other being God. We find this 
principle fully exhibited in Scripture. The Father speaks 
and acts only through the Son and through the Spirit, 
that all men may honour both. Christ acted for the Fa- 
ther — the Father glorified the Son — the Spirit glorifies 
both. Christ takes of the things of the Father, and 
gives them unto us. The Spirit takes of the things of 
Christ, and shows them unto us. And both the Father 
and the Son determine that sins against the Holy Ghost 
shall never be forgiven. The several Persons in the 
Sacred Name also bestow their threefold glory on the 
church, and the work of the church on earth is to glorify- 
all the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Adam, the first 
member of the church, was created perfect, to live in God, 



40 THE CRY. 

and for Him alone. The perfection of Enoch, and cause 
of his translation, was this, that " he walked with God." 
Such, also, is the intended purpose, and ought to be the 
high and sole business, of our earthly life, as members 
with Adam and Enoch, and all the faithful, of his univer- 
sal church. Then, too, what is the summing up of eter- 
nity? Is it not the church's admission to everlasting fel- 
lowship in glory, with the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
Ghost ? All those who acted for one another in time, 
acting with, and living in one another, in eternity. 

To hve for self, however, is the characteristic of fallen 
man. But when at any time he sacrifices self to an- 
other, as a servant for a master, a patriot for his country, 
he presents to his own mind the perfection of what he 
calls glorious and heroic. To give up our own interests 
or comfort for the happiness or preservation of another, is 
the noblest and highest act of generosity with which 
fallen humanity is acquainted. The history of the world 
is not wanting in instances of this magnificent disinter- 
estedness. So far as man is concerned, it is the highest 
mark of esteem and honour which he can pay to a fel- 
low-creature. This it was, which Christ, as a servant 
and a Son, rendered every moment of his hfe to God. 
And that which it is the loftiest ambition of mortals to 
obtain, was continually ascending to God the Father 
from Jesus Christ in the human form. No mere man 
ever presented it before or since. And therefore, amongst 
the multitude of human beings from the beginning to 
the end of time, Christ must have stood forth isolated 
and alone, a peculiar object of attraction, satisfaction, 
and delight, to the mina of God. The only tree bearing 
ripe fruit in this wide moral wilderness ; the single oasis 
in the arid desert of our nature ; was that which Christ's 
manhood presented to the all-searching Eye. Love to 
God was the secret spring that set in motion all the ac- 



THE CRY. 



41 



tivities of Christ's affections. Glory to God in the high- 
est was the powerful, all-pervading principle that actua- 
ted his words, and looks, and actions. To him to live 
was to honour God. In death to glorify him was his 
all. And now, then, the moment was come, in which 
the Father would return this giory to his Son. The 
hour of Christ's desertion by the Father, was the com- 
mencement of his uninterrupted and eternal glory, as 
the God-man, John xiii. 31. True, the astonishing mir- 
acles which he wrought, yielded him glory and honour, 
but it was not uninterrupted. Men blasphemed, and 
devils, though tormented, never yielded the mastery. 
But here on the cross, Christ, as the captain of our sal- 
vation, gained the victory over the invisible world. The 
Father left him alone that the spirits of darkness might 
feel his almighty power. It was as though he had said, 
" My Son has always rendered to me that honour which 
was due also to himself In exerting my power, he has 
never magnified his own. Now let all created intelli- 
gences learn, that even while hanging on the cross in 
weakness, the God-Man is m_y almighty Son, and their 
almighty Lord."' The moment then was come. Now 
was the hour and power of darkness. "With combined 
and furious onset the spirits of evil assaulted the spirit of 
the Redeemer. For three hours the conflict lasted. 
Christ, the •• Mighty God," vanquished them all, they re- 
treated from the field of conflict in everlasting despair. 
From that hour to this, they remember his all-powerful 
energy, his invincible holiness. They tremble at his 
very name, and throughout eternity shall suffer the pun- 
ishment of his wrath. Yet at the very moment of his 
victory, the Saviour seeks to glorify his Father. With a 
loud and pow^erful voice he calls upon his name. That 
name is most appropriate. "El" signifies strength, the 
mighty, or powerful one. And it is as if our Lord had 

4* 



42 THEi CRY. 

said, " My strength, my strength, why hast thou forsa- 
ken me? why art thou so far from helping me? Why 
am I left to fight this battle alone, and to gain a trophy 
of victory which I would rather lay at thy feet ?" Though, 
then, it is not the first and principal object of this deser- 
tion, yet it is by no means an unimportant part of it, 
when we conclude that the reason why the Father was 
so far from helping Christ was, that the victory might be 
altogether his own. 

Third. The third inquiry in this verse is, " Why art 
thou so far from the words of my roaring ?" To which 
we are taught to reply, " That thou mayest learn obedi- 
ence by the things which thou sufferest." 

Such an answer no one would venture to make, were 
it not dictated in the volume of inspiration. It occurs in 
the epistle to the Hebrews, and refers to this very period 
in which Christ hung upon the cross. Death was the 
last lesson Christ was to learn. '• He became obedient 
unto death, even the death of the cross," Phil. ii. 8. And 
it is with reference to this that the apostle says, " Though 
he were a son, yet learned he obedience by the things 
which he suffered ; and being made perfect, he became 
the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey 
him," Heb. v. 8, 9. We must not understand this pas- 
sage to declare, either that Christ learned obedience, as 
if he were ignorant of it before, or that he learned to be 
obedient, as if he had not been so till after suflFering had 
taught him. It is written simply, " He learned obedi- 
ence," that is, he learned what obedience is, and what all 
that obedience was to which he had voluntarily bound 
himself Had Christ been satisfied with crucifixion unto 
blood ; had he considered sin to be expiated when that 
was shed, he should have remained ignorant of the cru- 
cifixion unto death. In sucli a case, he must necessarily 
have been deficient in the grand and essential point for 



THE CRY. 43 

which he came into the world ; nor could the apostle 
have added, that he was '^made perfect.*' The perfec- 
tion, (that is, the legal and official, not the moral perfec- 
tion) of Christ, consisted in his accomplishing all that 
was written of him, and fulfilling all the types by which 
he had been foreshadowed. Death was the great event 
to which all Scripture testified, and which all the sacri- 
fices under the law typified. Christ, therefore, could not 
be said to be '-'made perfect," or to have "learned obedi- 
ence,*' till after he had tasted it. These two almost s}- 
nonymous expressions involve the same difficulty, and are 
explained by the same interpretation. But, as being 
God, he was not capable of dying till he became man ; 
so, being man, he was not qualified as a mediator, till he 
had passed through death. 

The history of Christ may be divided into four parts : 
his birth, hfe, sufferings, and death. When it is said, 
that till his birth he was not acquainted experimentally 
with the wants and feelings of human nature, we do not, 
and cannot imply any ignorance in his Godhead. When 
it is added, that a calm quiet life could not have quali- 
fied him to be a sympathizing friend to the afflicted ; 
and that till he had borne our griefs, and carried our sor- 
rows, he had not learned experimentally what our trials 
are, we do not imply that he was previously incapable 
of sympathy, defective in tenderness of feeling, or igno- 
rant of what man requires. When we say that the suf- 
ferings of life, and agonies of crucifixion, were not suffi- 
cient to qualify him to be the author of eternal salvation, 
till they were consummated in death, we do not imply 
that there were any shortcomings in these sufferings, or 
any deficiency in these agonies. So, when Scripture 
says that he learned obedience by these sufferings, and 
was made perfect by that death, it is not implied, either 
that there was any ignorance of obedience, or any im- 



44 THE CRY. 

perfection of nature, in our adorable Redeemer. All these 
form the four parts of one great whole ; and as the latter 
was necessarily imperfect without the former — death 
without sufferings — sufferings without life — life without 
birth ; so we say, the former were imperfect without the 
latter — birth vv^ithout life — life without sufferings — and 
sufferings without death. 

There is also a particular emphasis to be laid on the 
word obedience. The original teaches us to read it with 
an article prefixed. " He learned the obedience by the 
things which he suffered." That is, the appointed obe- 
dience, the necessary obedience, the obedience requisite 
to satisfy the whole law, the obedience necessary to com- 
pensate for man's disobedience ; the obedience, namely, 
to do and to suffer whatever God the Father pleased, to 
which he had bound himself. 

Christ upon the cross did therefore cry, or as the origi- 
nal strongly expresses it, " roar," as doth the wild animal 
under a wound ; but God did not regard his words, so 
that he might learn and experience to the very uttermost 
what that obedience was which his Father required, 
which the law demanded, and which he himself had 
promised to render. As it is said of the childhood of Je- 
sus, that " he grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour 
with God and man," Luke ii. 52 ; so may we say of his 
whole life from birth to death, that he was daily learning, 
and becoming practically and experimentally acquainted 
with the wants and feelings of our human nature, the 
sufferings of the flesh, the temptations of men and devils, 
and the holy determinations of God's will in reference to 
that atonement for sin which he was now accomplishing. 
Therefore the apostle declares that " we have not an high 
priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our in- 
firmities, but One who was in all points tempted like as 
we are, yet without sin," Heb. iv. 15. 



THE CRY. 45 

Another, and fourth reason, may be added, in answer 
to these several interrogations, namely, " that thou may- 
est become a perfect pattern of suffering affliction and of 
patience, to all the universe, and especially to the mem- 
bers of thy church." 

Christ's afflictions were altogether of a vicarious na- 
ture. He endured trials only in the room and for the 
benefit of others. On the theatre of this earth our Lord 
exhibited a lesson and a spectacle to the spirits of light 
and darkness which they shall never forget. To all the 
followers of his cross, he has left a most perfect example 
of the most perfect patience and submission, which they 
ought ever to imitate. It becomes them to do so. The 
bringing of manj^ sons unto glory is not accomphshed 
till the Captain of their salvation is made perfect through 
sufferings, Heb. ii. 10. '^ Therefore, let the same mind 
be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." " For even 
hereunto were ye called : because Christ also suffered for 
us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his 
steps," 1 Peter ii. 21. 

Reader, we have now been considering the most solemn 
fact, without exception, which the history of our world 
records. Earnestly pray that you may be suitably af- 
fected by it. Often meditate on what your Saviour must 
have suffered at that awful moment. It is not that he 
was pierced with nails ; it is not that he was surrounded 
by enemies ; it is not that he was dying a most igno- 
minious death ; it is not that he was deserted by his 
friends ; but it is that he was forsaken by his Fa- 
ther, on which we wish you now to fix your atten- 
tion. This is the one consideration that occupied 
all his dying thoughts. It is a truth which not only 
fills, but overwhelms the mind. That the Father should 
leave the Son ; that the God of love should forsake him 
who cries, ^^ My God, my God :" and that one, who is 



46 THE cry/ 

forsaken, should yet find it in his heart to address the Be- 
ing that forsakes him with the language of affiance and 
adoption, is a twofold mystery. Yet it is a mystery 
which Scripture explains. God forsook the Son, because 
he was bearing the sins of the world, that he might gain 
a complete victory over the spirits of darkness, and that 
he might learn all the obedience, and become a perfect 
example by the things which he suffered. And the Son 
forsook not the Father, because his faith was perfect, his 
holiness unsullied, and his love stronger than death. 

Here, then, in Christ your Surety, is set before you, as 
in a double mirror, God's method of dealing with you, 
and your duty in relation to God. The reasons why 
God forsook the Son, are the reasons, one or more of them, 
for which you have been, or are now, suffering, or may af- 
ter this endure, the hidings of God's face. The faith, the 
righteousness, and the love, which Christ exhibited in thi«! 
trial, are the same which you are to exercise in yours, 
and to seek to possess in still greater and greater degrees. 

Sin is the first cause of desertion. Either some known 
and unrepented iniquity, or some secret and unexamined 
evil, is the worm that destroys the gourd of spiritual en- 
joyment. God has no pleasure in exclusion. He would 
that your peace should flow as a river. But first he 
must make the fountain pure. It is not God's heart, but 
yours, that hinders communion; therefore, examine dili- 
gently the state of your heart. Pray for the light of 
God's word and Spirit, to enable you to discern and de- 
tect its every flaw, and shortcoming, and sin. Remem- 
ber that it is something in you, not merely upon you, 
that prevents the drawing near of the Lord to your soul. 
This is the difference between you and Christ under de- 
sertion. The sin was upon him, not in him. It was 
imputed, neither infused nor inborn. But in you it is both 
native and implanted. Seek, therefore, to have it rooted 



THE CRY. 47 

out. The light of God's countenance cannot return to 
you, till sin be confessed and deplored. If there be known 
sin, any besetment, any iniquity regarded in your heart, 
it is as impossible for light and darkness to mingle, as 
for God and your soul to have any peaceful communion. 
To preach comfort to you in such a state is most dan- 
gerous. To allow you to take any of the precious prom- 
ises as a pillow for your unhumbled head, would be to 
lull you to a fatal repose. We trust this is not the case 
with you, Christian reader. We trust that you are anx- 
ious, with a great anxiety, to be wholly free from sin, to 
be outwardly and inwardly holy, to possess a pure and 
contrite heart, that beats with love to God, and with de- 
sire to be restored to his lost image. 

Consider, then, that though there be no sin to which 
man can point, no sin which you do not weep over and 
condemn, yet there may be some secret root of bitterness 
springing up within you. Sin is a deceitful thing. Its 
first sproutings we often mistake for those of flowers. 
The eye alone of the husbandman instantly detects the 
weed. While therefore, you pray, " Keep back thy ser- 
vant from presumptuous sins," forget not also this en- 
treaty, '• Cleanse me from secret faults," Psa. xix. 12, 13. 
It may be that the bud of evil is already formed in your 
heart ; and all unsuspecting and self-satisfied, you may 
be for going on as you are, or rather as you fancy your- 
self to be, till at last it will burst forth, and cover you 
with confusion by its pestilential odour. Or it may be, 
that the tare of the wicked one has just been dropped 
into your heart. It hes so still and dormant, that you 
cannot believe that it obtains a place in your bosom. 
Its first germ of hfe may be beginning to strike its feeble 
but insinuating roots. Shall God allow it to grow? 
Would you desire it to be spared till it become a tree 
and fall upon your own head ? No, surely. And nei- 



48 THE CRY. 

ther does the God who loves you. He will send blasts 
and storms ; he will cause the heats of trial and distress 
to come ; he will use the rod of affliction, and the pru- 
ning-knife of bereavement — " these things will he do 
unto you and not forsake you." He will wait for the 
result. If the growth of evil in you be checked, and 
good fruit begin to appear, well. If you be. roused to 
inquire wherefore he contendeth with you ; if you be 
brought to self-examination, confession, and reformation, 
well. But if not, then what remains after every other 
affliction has been tried, but that he hide his face from 
you ? " Ephraim is joined to his idols, let him alone," 
Hos. iv. 17. God is compelled to do so. Your eternal 
welfare is at stake, and rather than you should perish 
God will reluctantly, yet certainly, have recourse to this 
his last and sorest punishment. Remember, you have 
yourself rendered this measure imperative. It is the last 
act to which your heavenly Father desires to have re- 
course, Deut. xxxi. 17, 18; xxxii. 20. You must be 
exercised by it for your souFs rescue and salvation. 
Christ was exercised by it for our sakes, and to prove 
that he was perfect. Every other trial had been laid on 
Jesus, and when his dying hour arrived, that neither 
Satan, nor our distrustful hearts, should be able to say 
that he was not tempted in all points like as we are, 
even this was brought upon him. 

The trial, though severe, is a mercy and a blessing to 
you, and on God's part it is an act of kindness. Rather 
than die, you would submit to the excision of one or 
more of the members of your body. Rather than per- 
ish, be wiUing to suiFer any trial, if so be that you may 
thereby be kept from the slavery of sin, the lusts of the 
flesh, and the slumber of spiritual sloth. 

As we know not from what and how many unseen 
dangers the intervening providence of God has delivered 



THE CRY. 49 

US in our progress through hfe, so we cannot understand 
from how many sins and crimes the trials we have ex- 
perienced may have kept us back. The hght of eter- 
nity will make strange revelations, and show all things 
plain. What we had deemed our greatest evils, shall 
then appear to have been our richest blessings ; and 
what we now prize with avaricious fondness, we may 
then see would have proved our destruction, had it nc^ 
been snatched away. Regard, then, the hiding of God's 
face as intended to bring you to serious and impartial self- 
examination ; to make you watchful, prayerful, humble, 
and diligent : to teach you to hold fast your first love ; 
to strengthen the good things that remain in your hearty 
and which, perhaps, may be ready to die, Rev. ii. 4 ; 
iii. 2 ; and to lead you to cut off and mortify the evil 
things that are ready to live : and to bring you with in- 
genuous mind to your Father, and childlike say, " That 
which I see not teach thou me : if I have done iniquity, 
I will.do no more," Job xxxiv. 32. 

Let the desponding and deserted Christian remember, 
however, for his comfort, that there are two other reasons 
on account of which the Lord in wisdom and in love 
may now be hiding his face from him. Those already 
mentioned are for the detecting, punishing, and remov- 
ing of evil ; these to vrhich we would now call your at- 
tention are for the strengthening, improving, and increas- 
ing of your graces ; to make you conquerors over your 
spiritual enemy, and to teach you all obedience by the 
things which you suffer. Remember, there may be no 
special sin which brings this trial upon you. Therefore 
let not your conscience be burdened, where, perhaps, 
there may be no just cause. The disciples in their ig- 
norance inquired, '- Master, who did sin, this man or his 
parents, that he was born blind ? But Jesus answered, 
Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents ; but that 

5 



50 THE CRY. 

the works of God should be made manifest in him," John 
ix. 2, 3. This may be thy case, O Christian. Thoa 
mayest now be walking in darkness, that God may be 
glorified in thee. As members of Christ's church, we 
are to show unto principalities and powers in the heav- 
enly places the manifold wisdom of God, Eph. iii. 10. 
We are to glorify God even in the fires. Angels are to 
learn in us what patience means, what resignation, and 
submission. Even the highest archangel who basks in 
the sunshine of eternal glory is to look down upon a 
poor despised Christian, and learn what it is to live by 
faith and not by sense ; to hope against hope ; to rejoice 
in tribulation ; to follow hard after God even w^hen he 
turns away ; and to be actuated at one and the same 
moment by two wills, the one conscious of its own de- 
sire, yet checking itself by another, even the will of God, 
turning whithersoever it leads and crying, " Not my will, 
but thine be done.*' These are lessons which cannot be 
learned in heaven. Angels are fain to look down upon 
our earth to read them. And w^here but in the church 
of Christ can they be found ? Where but in thy heart, 
O Christian, and in thy brethren that are in the '• midst 
of this naughty world ?" 4'he various crosses and losses 
of time are common, every day lessons. The most in- 
tensely interesting, the highest lesson, which these bright 
intelligences can obtain, is from a Christian under deser- 
tion. That lesson, as indeed every other, was perfectly 
taught by our great Master. Yet even our imperfect ex- 
hibitions of it, impart wisdom as well as astonishment, to 
these superior beings. They delight to see a Christian 
bearing with patience and resignation the loss of fortune, 
the removal of friends, the decays of strength, the other 
trials and sufferings of life. But w^hen an angel beholds 
a Christian under the hidings of his Maker's counte- 
nance, his whole attention is riveted. He may indeed 



THE CRY. 51 

exclaim, " How will this creature act ?" And well may 
he think with himself, " What should I do if that bless- 
ed countenance w^ere turned away from me ? What 
should I become ? should I not be driven to despair ?" 
When, then, this angel looks upon the deserted Chris- 
tian, and beholds him mute and silent, not uttering one 
murmuring word ; when next he perceives that tears be- 
gin to flow ; — sees him fall upon his bended knees in 
the retirement of his closet, and hears him say, '' Have 
mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kind- 
ness : according unto the multitude of thy tender mer- 
cies, blot out my transgressions. Against thee, thee only, 
have I sinned. Cast me not away from thy presence, 
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me 
the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free 
Spirit," Psa. 1. ; when he beholds this, he must exceed- 
ingly bless and praise the Lord, who hath given such 
grace to men. And further, when he observes, that in- 
stead of becoming fretful or sullen, instead of running 
on in a reckless course, and becoming as forgetful of 
God, as God appears to have become of him, the Chris- 
tian acknowledges the justice of God's treatment, often 
pleads and intercedes for reconciliation, and becomes 
more and more scrupulous in all his thoughts, and words, 
and wbAs ; leaves nothing undone by w^hich he can 
serve and please God, and pants and desires with an in- 
creasing earnestness of heart after the light of his coun- 
tenance ; that angel, from the contemplation of this 
scene, will surely turn towards the throne of glory, pros- 
trate himself in adoring admiration, and exclaim, " Great 
and marvellous are all thy works. Lord God Almighty ; 
just and true are all thy ways, thou King of saints." 

But there is yet another high purpose to subserve. 
The Christian under desertion must not only furnish a 
song of praise to the angels of light, but also a lesson of 



52 THE CRY. 

instruction and humiliation to the angels of darkness. 
These "adversaries" are always insinuating some foul 
and lying charge, both against the Lord and against his 
people. Therefore, in his matchless wisdom, Jehovah 
sometimes takes the ''wise in their own craftiness," Job 
V. 13, and permits them to carry out their insinuations 
to their own confusion. Witness the case of Job. The 
Lord delivered him into the enemy's hand, that the lie 
might be detected by all the "sons of God" in whose 
presence it was uttered. Trial and trouble, privation 
and loss, one upon another, were brought in rapid suc- 
cession against that chosen servant. Satan desired to 
have him. But the great Advocate prayed for him, that 
his faith might not fail. And though all the means and 
instruments of Satanic malice were brought to bear upon 
that lonely man, yet could he not be driven to curse the 
Lord. The bitterest blast only caused his faith to burn 
brighter out of the ashes of his earthly hopes ; and all 
the spiritual spectators of that mortal combat beheld Sa- 
tan's scowl of dismay, and the gleam of triumph in Job's 
sunken eye when he exclaimed, " Though he slay me, 
yet will I trust in him," Job xiii. 15. 

It may be so with you, O Christian ! Take courage 
from the consideration. Be faithful unto death. Never 
give up your claim, through Christ, on a covenant God. 
To such as you the prophet speaks, " Who is among you 
that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his ser- 
vant, that w^alketh in darkness and hath no light? let 
him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his 
God," Isa. 1. 10. 

" The name of the Lord is a strong tower ; the righ- 
teous runneth into it, and is safe," Prov. xviii. 10. Call 
upon that name; appropriate it to yourself ; do so once 
and again ; say, yea, cry like Jesus even in the deepest 
gloom, " My God, my God." Beware of distrust ; be- 



THE CRY. 53 

ware of unbelief; it leads to despondency, and despon- 
dency to despair. Always look upwards. Think of 
your Master on the cross. He was forsaken ; he had 
no one to plead on his behalf ; he felt the bitterness of 
desertion infinitely beyond what you experience, for he 
fully knew the blessedness of near and intimate union 
and communion with God. Stay yourself, then, on him, 
and through him, on God, as your Lord and your Fa- 
ther. Cry earnestly, " Restore unto me thy free Spirit." 
The Comforter will come. He alone can impart life, and 
light, and peace. And though he tarry, wait for him, 
wait in prayer, and still hang upon him in earnest long- 
ing expectation. 

5* 



THE COMPLAINT. 



Verse 2. — O my God^ I cry in the day'time, but thou hear est 
not ; and in the night season, and am not silent. 

Having given utterance to his anguish with a loud 
voice— having called upon God in the first part of the 
verse which we have just considered, we suppose it high- 
ly probable that the remainder of that verse, and also 
of the whole Psalm, was inwardly ejaculated by our 
blessed Lord while hanging on the cross. That great 
cry attracted the attention of men, but now these inward 
breathings of supplication are intended for the ear of 
God. 

What strong faith is here exhibited! Deserted and 
forsaken as Jesus was — left alone in the midst of his 
enemies — thrilling in every limb, with agony the most 
intense, — and surrounded by an oppressive and appalling 
darkness, he could yet cry, " My God, my God," and 
still employs, in this verse, the same term of relationship 
and affiance. It is as if he would say, '^ However much 
I may be tried, I will not forego my claim. I will ac- 
knowledge no other Lord. Thou hast all right and all 
authority over me. Thou art my God, and whether it 
please thee to regard or to disregard my cry, I will not 
believe that I no longer belong to thee, or that I shall 
always be cast off. O my God, suffer me to speak ; 
I must unburden my breaking heart 5^ I want none but 
thee ; I will complain to none against thee — to thyself 
alone will I tell my griefs. — ' I cry in the day-time, but 
thou hearest not: and in the night season, and am not 
silent.' " 



THE COMPLAINT. 55 

How like the expostulation of a human child with an 
eartlily parent ! It proceeds on the ground of relation- 
ship—" I am thine ; I cry day and night, yet am not 
heard. Thou art my God. yet nothinor is done to silence 
me. In the day-time of my life, I cried, in this night 
season of my death I entreat. In the garden of Geth- 
semane I occupied the night with prayers ; with con- 
tinual ejaculations have I passed through this eventful 
morning. O my God, thou hast not yet heard me, 
therefore am I not yet silent ; I cannot cease till thou 
answerest." Here Christ urges his suit in a manner 
which none but filial hearts adopt. The child knows 
that the parent yearns over him. His importunity is 
strengthened by confidence in his love. He keeps not 
silence ; he gives him no rest, because he confides in his 
power and willingness to grant the desired relief This 
is natural ; it is the argument of the heart — an appeal to 
the inward yearnings of our nature. It is also scriptural, 
and is thus stated, '' If ye then, being evil, know how 
to give good gifts unto your children ; how much more 
shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them 
that ask him?" Luke xi. 13. 

Our Lord seems to refer to Gethsemane, ^- 1 cry in the 
night season." Many a night had he spent with God 
in prayer, but never one like that. Here on the cross, 
he identifies the subject of his petition with that w^hich 
he thrice presented there in his agony. He complains to 
God that he is not yet silenced, and that what he there 
asked has not yet been granted. If this view be correct, 
it enables us to understand the cause of that great agony, 
and explains the bitterness of that mysterious cup. We 
know what the subject matter of his prayer is on the 
cross, and we hence learn on what his holy human will 
was fixed in his threefold prayer. It was neither relief 
from fear of death, nor dehverance from the expected 



56 THE COMPLAINT. 

cross; it was not mitigation of pain — nor escape from' 
his persecutors — nor safety from Satan's assults, for 
which he prayed — all these were as notliing to him. 
To be under such oppressive sorrow because of any one 
or more, or all of these causes, were unworthy the Cap- 
tain of our salvation, unlike him who said, "I delight to 
do thy will, O my God.*' But here is a noble and 
worthy reason — here is a matter in every sense becoming 
the ^' will" of him who never felt, or thought, or spake, 
but in perfect harmony with the " will" of his Father. 
Here is a prayer in which even Christ may possess, as 
assuredly he did, tivo wills^ and yet be free from sin. 
That prayer is, that he may enjoy the light of his Father's 
countenance. "What language can be conceived more 
appropriate in the mouth of a son ? What prayer more 
agreeable to the ear of the Father ? This was the 
prayer which Jesus presented in the garden and on 
the cross. In the one he deprecated a trial to which he 
was looking forward ; in the other he prays under iis 
pressure when already come. We all know how dread- 
ful is the apprehension of evil. It is magnified by dis- 
tance. We have time to think of its worst aggravations, 
and all the others appear larger by being dimly discerned. 
When, too, the trial is of a strange and unexperienced 
nature ; of a kind which we have never yet passed 
through ; its strangeness invests it with exciting and 
mysteriously fascinating power over us, which engages 
the whole mind, and often overwhelms it. Such, in 
some measure, we apprehend, was that sensation which 
made our blessed Saviour "exceeding sorrowful even 
unto death," when in the garden of Gethsemane ; and 
which, with the excruciating reality and intensity of its 
presence, made him forget even death itself when he was 
hanging on the cross. It is something, which, before it 
came, Christ can liken to nothing but the last and great- 



THE COMPLAINT. 57 

est evil which humanity contemplates. No greater com- 
parison, as to this world, can be employed. But when 
it is come, it proves, like death, to be enough of itself, and 
swallows up every other consideration. Therefore, 
throughout this psalm, and in all his words on the cross 
recorded in the Gospels, there is not the slightest allusion 
to, or the remotest intimation of desire for, deliverance 
from death. Oh no : it was something infinitely be- 
yond mortal death which our Immanuel dreaded, against 
which he importunately prayed, and for the obtaining 
of which he would never rest. Exclusion, as our Surety, 
from a sense of his Father's presence, was the last and 
bitterest affliction which Christ was called to endure ; and 
it was the one only trial which his holy f lial heart must 
wish, and rightly wish, to be shortened — to be removed. 
To be passively contented in such a condition, is as sinful 
as it is fatal. It proves that we care not for Him from 
whom we are excluded ; that we are indifferent whether 
he be pleased or angry with us. To the Father w^ho 
orders the infliction, such an exhibition must be even 
more wounding and hateful than the original offence. 
That parent can answer who has been tried by a wilful 
and rebellious son. What cut deepest into thy wounded 
heart ? Was it not this, that when ordered to leave thy 
house and see thy face no more, he was still unmelted, 
and seemed as well satisfied with banishment, as if he 
swere abiding under a father's blessing? That revolting 
picture which a prodigal thus presents, is the very reverse 
of what Jesus exhibited. His heart burned with love to 
his Father ; his whole soul was occupied with an intense 
desire to please him, to be with him, to be near him. 
Christ was, to the utmost point of perfection, what a son, 
what every son ought to be. His happiness lay where 
his duty lay, his desires and delights were all centred 
in obedience. He had no separate interests, no selfish 



58 THE COMPLAINT. 

considerations, no personal gratifications, to further and 
attend to. His will was entirely one with the will of his 
Father ; and that single passage in his history which 
discloses the identity, by the working, of his own separ- 
ate and personal will, divulges^ not only its holiness by 
the object on which it fixed, but also its full acquiesence 
and harmony therein with the Father's will. 

The vast importance of this subject demands the fullest 
consideration. It opens a path to the removal of all, or 
most of, those difficulties which encompass the mysteri- 
ous scene in the garden. It presents the Saviour in an 
attitude which must have exceedingly endeared him to 
his Father, at the very moment when he was pleading 
for the removal of that cup, which the Father had deter- 
mined should not be altogether withdrawn. What was 
that cup ? It was the last, the bitterest which the law 
had sentenced him to drink. Its dreadful ingredient 
was exclusion from the Divine presence. It was not 
put into his hand till he had hung some considerable 
time on the cross. The sun hid itself in darkness whilst 
this cup was administered. If such a darkness and hor- 
ror spread itself over the whole land at the solemn and 
awful period, no wonder that an exceeding and over- 
w^helming sorrow came upon the soul of Jesus, when he 
contemplated it in the garden, on the night previous to 
its execution. As the last sentence of the law, there 
was every reason for him to suppose that he was to die 
imder it. Justice seemed to require this. As the Sure- 
ty of sinners, he must undergo their sentence. The ig- 
nominy of the cross, the pains of body, the assaults of 
devils, and the curse of the law, are to be continued till 
death ensue. Is the remaining part of the sentence — 
even exclusion from the Divine presence — to be simi- 
larly executed ? No reason appears why it should not. 
Awful thought ! Die under the hidings of my Father's 



THE COMPLAINT. 59 

face ? O dreadful sentence. The more he thought of 
it when he retired into the shades of Gethsemane, the 
more horrifying it appeared. No wonder, then, that it is 
recorded, " He began to be sore amazed, and to be very 
heavy,*' Mark xiv. 33. He began to think of it with re- 
newed attention, and consequently to feel it with greater 
acuteness. His sensations correspond with the nature of 
their cause. That cause is of a most strange and inex- 
perienced kind, therefore he is -^ sore amazed." It is al- 
so dreadful, therefore " He began to be very sorrowful." 
It is awfully oppressive, therefore is he " very heavy." 
Must I be separated from my Father? Am 1 to die 
without the light of his presence ? Is this the irrevoca- 
ble sentence ? I cannot bear the thought. " O my Fa- 
ther ! if it be possible : Abba, Father, all things are pos- 
sible unto thee : take away this cup from me ; neverthe- 
less, not what I will, but what thou wilt," (compare Matt, 
xxvi. 39, with Mark xiv. 36.) The '• sore amazement" 
of his spirit is exhibited in his actions. He rose from his 
knees — he went to the disciples — he returned a second 
time to pray. Again he rose — again he came to the dis- 
ciples — a third time he returned to pray. The amaze- ' 
ment increased, " He fell upon his face." His "sorrow" 
became "exceeding;" "being in an agony, he prayed 
more earnestly." The oppression had become so great 
— the mental pressure so " very heavy," that " his sweat 
was as it were great drops of blood." But what is the 
subject of this last, this agonizing prayer ? Is it not the 
same with the first ? Does he not use the same words ? 
Does he not deprecate the same cup ? Yet he never 
names it. So sensitively does he recoil from it ; so ab- 
horrent is it to his nature, that he seems as if he cannot 
bear to mention it. Never till the darkness actually en- 
veloped him on the cross, could its dreadful name be 
wrung forth in words; then he gave utterance to it. 



60 THE COMPLAINT. 

'• My God, my God, why liast thou forsaken me ?" is a 
cry which burst from the inmost heart of the Saviour, 
and divulged the secret that oppressed it. What else 
was worthy to affect tliat sacred lieart to such a degree ? 
What else became the holy will of a Son, either while 
differing from, or acquiescing in, a Father's will ? On 
what other subject could Christ have a will of his own, 
which should yet gain the approbation of him before 
whom he stood? That Christ set his mind on an ob- 
ject, and prayed for it with threefold earnestness, yet 
never obtained it, is no pleasing thought to the Chris- 
tian mind. That he desired that for which he ought not 
to have asked, is not for a moment to be believed. We 
conclude, then, that our Saviour " in the night season" 
in Gethsemane, entreated that he might not die under 
the hiding of his Father's countenance ; but if it were 
the Father's will that he should depart out of this world 
under it, his love and obedience were so great, that even 
in this he would submit; that God, acting towards 
Christ as a Judge, did not then answer his petition, but 
was so well pleased as a Father, with his earnest desire 
to be admitted to his presence, that he sent an angel to 
strengthen him : and that here on the cross, the Saviour 
renews this supplication, and continues in this psalm to 
pray with the most determined importunity, till he suc- 
ceed, and is able to expire in light, and peace, and tri- 
umph. 

Having now considered the subject of that prayer, let 
us consider the argument — it is based on Omnipotence. 
" Abba, Father, if it be possible ; all things are possible 
with thee." This is an ultimate point. Creature ex- 
tremity can never reach beyond the help of Omnipotence. 
But how shall we bring it to our aid ? The answer is 
ready, " By trusting to it." Therefore, the Scripture de- 
clares, " all things are possible to him that believeth," 



THE COMPLAINT. 61 

Mark ix. 23 ; and again, '- What things soever ye ask 
in prayer, beheve that ye receive them, and ye shall have 
them," Mark xi. 24. It must be previously supposed 
that no creature will presume to ask any thing contrary 
to the holy character and revealed will of God. And 
then, when the object is such as the Scriptures warrant, 
there is not only clear ground for the strongest confidence, 
but also a consequent duty to exercise faith, and a sin 
in not believing. As, then, the Saviour desired re-admis- 
sion to the light of God's countenance, the desire was 
holy, just, and good. His earnestness and importunity 
regarding it, must consequently be the same. Whether, 
therefore, we behold him three several times pleading for 
his own will, or as often again submitting to the Father's 
will, we perceive that he is equally holy, just, and good 
in both : and we know not which to admire most high- 
ly, his perseverance in seeking this blessing, which he 
acknowledges it may not be the Father's will to give, or 
his filial submission to that will, even should it continue 
to deny his request ! How did Christ, as a man, setting 
example to his church, accomplish this ? First, he knew 
that his petition was right in itself. Secondly, he knew 
that, being right, God certainly approved of it. Thirdly, 
he knew that however apparently impossible, nothing 
was or could be impossible with God. Fourthly, he 
knew that prayer is God's own appointed means for the 
bestowment of blessings. Fifthly, he therefore employs 
this means to make known his will to his Father, and 
uses the argument of his omnipotence, to show that there 
is no diflSculty in the way, but that which hes in the 
Father's will. Sixthly, to that will, whatever it may be, 
he then submits. He holds it too sacred to be intruded 
on — he stops at this point — he rises from prayer rather 
than proceed further — he returns to pray a second time — 
uses however only the same means, presents the same 

6 



62 THE COMPLAINT. 

argumentj reaches the same point, and again pauses in 
submission — retires a second time, but soon returns ; yet 
it is only to do as he had done before, and though with 
increased vehemence and energy, yet still he stops at the 
same point; and having laid his petition at the threshold 
of the presence chamber of the Divine will, leaves it 
there, and submissively retires. 

Such is the manner in which Christ acts in prayer. 
He carries all desires, distresses, enemies, and impossi- 
bilities, nay, also omnipotence itself, before him, and 
along with him, to the throne of grace. He yields to 
nothing that opposes his progress towards it. Even the 
might and power of God, w^hich naturally terrify and 
keep the soul at a distance, faith interprets in its own 
favour, and presses forward with greater alacrity. To the 
Supreme Will alone does it submit. What it does not 
yield to Almighty Power, it concedes at once, Avith full- 
est resignation, to the Almighty Will. Never does it 
venture further. It seeks not to interfere with the Divine 
volition ; it presumes not to inquire what reasons in- 
fluence, what motives actuate. Concluding that all the 
determinations of the Most High are, and must be, in 
and of themselves, immutably and eternally right, it rests 
in calm submission with the disappointment of its fondest 
wishes, the blasting of its fairest hopes, and destruction 
of all its present happiness, believing that the Will which 
orders it is, and must be, right. 

Such is the blessed position of our resigned submissive 
Saviour in the garden of Gethsemane, and on the cross 
on Calvary. But yet. in his experience, there is another 
point, even deeper, and more blessed, than this. It is, 
that Christ rested upon the will of God, not only as to 
whatever it might be, but also, as knowing what it could 
not be, in reference to his petition. He knew that God's 
will was not that he should be excluded for ever from 



THE COMPLAINT. 63 

the Divine presence. He therefore wilUngly submitted 
to endure the darkness of exclusion, so long as his Fa- 
ther pleased, even to die under it, if he had so determin- 
ed ; accounting the most protracted period as but a mo- 
ment, compared with the eternity of union and commu- 
nion in hght and bliss, from which he knew it could not 
be the will of God to sentence him to everlasting banish- 
ment. This enables the heart to add to submission 
patience, and to patience satisfaction, and to satisfaction 
approbation. Christ did not only submit to the will of 
God ; he approved of it as wise and good. To be for 
hours or days, in life or death, separated from the pres- 
ence of his Father, he could and would patiently endure, 
if such were his holy will for the salvation of men ; but 
he knew that his Father s heart was as much opposed 
as his own to eternal separation ; therefore, with a satis- 
fied and approving heart, he could rise from that prayer 
of blood, and, calm and strengthened in spirit, could de- 
liver himself quietly into the hands of the traitor and his 
band, not yet knowing, by direct communication, what 
the Father's will was in reference to his petition, but well 
knowing what it was not. 

Such appears to have been the state of mind in which 
the Saviour left Gethsemane. The same holy calm of 
soul was exhibited in all his words and actions before 
his judges. On Mount Calvary, too, and on the way 
thither, how beautifully does this self-possession charac- 
terize the Redeemer ! Cheering his disconsolate follow- 
ers, we hear him say, " Weep not for me, but weep for 
yourselves and your children,'' Luke xxiii. 28. When 
arrived at the place of execution, the first words he utters 
is a prayer for his murderers, ^' Father, forgive them, for 
they know not what they do," Luke xxiii. 34. Hang- 
ing on the cross, his filial heart forgets its own woes to 
provide for a mother's comfort *^ Woman, behold thy 



64 THE COMPLAINT. 

son," and to a disciple, '^ Behold thy mother," John xix. 
26, 27. Unmoved to reply by all the taunts and insinu- 
ations that were heaped upon him, no sooner does he 
hear the voice of the supphant thief, than he administers 
consolation to his penitent heart, and says, ^'To-day 
shalt thou be with me in Paradise," Luke xxiii. 43. But 
a long interval occurs before he speaks again — an awful 
interval it w^as of darkness and desertion. From mid- 
day till about three o'clock the gloom enveloped the land. 
For three hours Christ was speechless. During all this 
time he was drinking of that cup of desertion, against 
which he had prayed in the garden. Its bitterness was 
even greater than he had feared. So dreadful was this 
new sensation, that he could no longer be silent under 
it: and the next utterance which the evangehsts record, 
is the doleful cry w^hich this Psalm supplies, '' My God, 
my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" This is the 
only expression of sorrow which our Saviour uttered on 
the cross. The three remaining sentences are severally 
dictated by a sense of dut}^ a consciousness of victory, 
and a l&lial confidence in his Father's care over his de- 
parting spirit. How thankful, then, ought we to be that 
the same psalm which supplied an outlet to the Saviour's 
anguish, affords us a clue to the state of his mind, gives 
us an insight into the progress of his thoughts from de- 
sertion to deliverance, and puts us in possession of his 
arguments in prayer, and of his grateful acclamations of 
praise ! 

This verse is a continuation of that cry. It carries on 
the petition, gives it fresh force, by presenting it in a new 
form, and urges the suit with greater liberty and bold- 
ness, by complaining that it is not yet regarded, '^ O my 
God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not ; and in 
the night season, and am not silent." In the margin it 
is thus translated, " and there is no silence to me." The 



THE COMPLAINT. 65 

origmal literally signifies, " There is nothing done to 
cause me to be silent." It thus expresses a twofold sen- 
timent, that God had not granted his prayers, or done 
any thing for his relief, and that he will not cease to pray 
till he has obtained an answer. 

Remember this blessed example, this instructive lesson, 
Christian reader. Imitate the pattern which the psalm- 
ist here sets before you, and which your Saviour has left 
for your guidance. Learn, like Jacob of old, to say, "I 
will not let thee go, except thou bless me." Whatevei 
trials beset you, though walking in darkness and having 
no liglit, complain to God, but never of him. Pour out 
your whole heart before him, Jehovah is a refugee for you. 
He who supplicated for himself on the cross, is now in- 
terceding on your behalf at the throne. Faint not. 
Bring forth your strong reasons. Be not dismayed. He 
will not plead against you with his great power — no ; but 
He will put strength in you. Job xxiii. 6. It may be 
the night season of your experience. The gloom of mid- 
night may surround you. Remember Christ under the 
darkness, and take courage. His sorrows were deeper 
than thine ; he opened them all to his Father — he would 
take no denial. So do thou : confess fully, unreservedly ; 
enumerate each failing and transgression ; deplore your 
condition ; beg for pardon, peace, and purity again ; add 
tears to sighs and words to groans ; fear nothing but si- 
lence, and you shall soon have no silence to fear. 

Painful and most distressing, however, is the experi- 
ence of apparently disregarded prayer. How often has 
God called on us, and we have turned a silent ear ! 
This experience, therefore, enables us to sympathize with 
Him who says, " I have stretched forth my hands all day 
long unto a disobedient and gainsaying people," Rom. 
X. 21 ; and with Him who wept over Jerusalem and 
said, '' How often would I have gathered thy children 

6* 



66 THE COMPLAINT. 

together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 
wingj and ye would not," ]V[att. xxiii. 37. The deep 
purposes of our Father in heaven, by these sad experi- 
ences of his children, are to bring them by a way which 
they know not, to be of one mind with himself. The 
more we are tried and exercised, the better are we pre- 
pared for a high seat in glory. Remember therefore, de- 
serted Christian, that even though no cause be apparent 
to you, God has a high and heavenly design in you and 
for you, which nothing but your present experience can 
accomplish. Wait but for a few days, and the glass 
through which you now see darkly shall fall from your 
hands, and in the bright mirror of eternity you shall see 
all things plainly, and know even as you are known. 
You know the hand that afflicts, but you are ignorant 
of some of the reasons that direct. Press not to know 
them all ; submit to the will of your Father, whatever it 
may be ; but O live not in ignorance of his will, so far 
as it is revealed. In Jesus such a declaration has been 
given of that will, as may suffice to cheer the most dis- 
consolate heart. The angels sang it at his birth, " good 
WILL towards men." That one term is enough, 
" good will !" What more can we desire ? The good 
will of our Creator towards us, is enough to put to flight 
all doubts and fears of heart, all suggestions and surmi- 
ses of darkness. Thus, like our blessed Saviour, we can 
rest even on the unknown will of Jehovah, and believe 
that it is " good." But if. through the power of tempta- 
tion, we may not be able to gain stability for our tem- 
pest-tossed thoughts, on this general declaration, there is 
further revealed for our encouragement this positive 
assurance, " this is the will of God, even your sanctifica- 
tion," 1 Thess. iv. 3. Lean, then, on this truth, that 
even your present darkness and desertion of spirit, is ac- 
comphshing the gracious will and purpose of the Lord in 



THE COMPLAINT. 67 

the purifying of your nature. Is it not a strong support 
to patience and submission, to know that even the most 
painful of all trials is working out for you and in you, 
the most blessed of all ends ? Do you feel the tempta- 
tions of sin — are you harassed by the suggestions of 
Satan — have you* no fight to cheer, no comforting promise 
to support you — no answer to your many earnest prayers 
for deliverance ? Stay your mind on this blessed truth, 
that God cannot, and does not, will, that sin and defile- 
ment should pollute his creatures. It is not the will of 
God that any one should be unholy. Here, then, is an 
everlasting basis. It cannot fail. God is unchangeable. 
He never will choose, or appoint, or approve, any thing 
connected with sin. Behold, then, on what an inde- 
structible foundation you may build your hopes, when 
you sigh and cry for freedom from every plague of the 
heart. Your prayer is acceptable to the Lord God of 
Sabaoth. He will assuredly answer it ; but in his own 
time, and in his own way. That time you will one day 
acknowledge to have been right and seasonable — not a 
moment sooner, nor a moment later, than it ought to 
have been. That way you will recognise to have been 
the best and safest by which you^ with your peculiar tem- 
perament, and in your particular circumstances of life, 
could have been conducted from sin to holiness, from 
earth to heaven.* 

But should you, in a long-continued storm of spiritual 
trouble, require another anchor to prevent your being 
driven on the rocks of despair, the Scriptures graciously 
provide you with this declaration, '• The Lord is not wil- 
ling that any should perish," 2 Pet. iii. 9. This enables 
the soul to outride the fiercest tempest. We know not 
through what, and how many, trials we must be brought, 

* Read the hymn which begins,^ " I asked the Lord that I might 
grow." — Olney Collection, 



68 THE COMPLAINT. 

in order to the accomplishment of that ^^ will" which de- 
sires our "sanctification :" and at the thought of this we 
may be often cast down ; but, whatever trials result from 
the ^-sanctifying will," that other ^' will "which desires 
NOT that we should " perish," affords us support and con- 
solation ; so that, though cast down; we know that w^e 
shall not be destroyed ; though perplexed, we know that 
w^e need not fall into despair. Driven, then, from one 
position to another — falling deeper and deeper into doubts 
and despondences, and utter hopelessness, here is a point 
beyond which the Christian cannot fall— cannot be driven. 
Even on the very verge of despair, he might argue thus, 
" Scripture obliges me to believe that God is not willing 
that any should perish ; I must therefore conclude, that 
he is not willing that I should perish. Here I will take 
my stand. I will not give way to despair." No sooner 
does the Christian thus rest on this scriptural ground, 
than the light of hope begins to rekindle wathin his breast. 
It increases : it imparts w^armth and life to his benumbed 
heart. Vital action is exhibited in cries, and prayers, and 
supplications. He draws nearer and nearer to God as 
a father and a friend. He trusts him more fully ; he 
loves him more ardently ; he serves him more diligently. 
The weight that crushed him is removed. He runs with 
alacrity in the path of obedience. Ere long he enters 
where no more weight can fall, no more pressure be felt ; 
but ^^ the far more exceeding, even the eternal weight of 
glory," and the pressure of love and gratitude and ado- 
ration, for ever and ever. 



THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 



Verse 3. — But thou art holy^ O Thou that inhabitest the 
praises of Israel. 

When the Saviour of the world hung upon the cross, 
the whole universe of hitelligent beings appeared to be 
against him. The very elements seemed to have joined 
his enemies. The friendly light of day suddenly became 
hke the darkness of night. Disciples, too, had fled, and 
left him alone. Jews and Gentiles were assembled in 
one hostile band. Spirits of evil, headed by the prince 
of darkness, were marshalled against him. The angels 
of light came not to his help. Sent forth, as they were, 
to be ministering spirits to others, they were not so then 
to him. The law of God sounded forth its voice against 
him, and enveloped Calvary with the terrors of Mount 
Sinai, by its awful declaration, " Cursed is every one that 
hangeth on a tree." And, above all, his own God and 
Father had forsaken him. No light, no gracious com- 
munings, no smile of love, came now from their wonted 
source. This was the severest trial of all. Were God 
but to cast one look of approbation upon him, its blessed- 
ness would nullify the curse of the law, and the desertion 
of friends ; its sanction would give wing to angels, strike 
devils with dismay, and discomfit all his persecutors. 
But though that approbation filled the bosom of the Most 
High, every exhibition of it was restrained. No manifes- 
tation of love was vouchsafed. All was darkness ; all 
was silence. Christ prayed, but there was no answer. 
Christ cried, but there was no reply. The Son earnestly 
entreated the Father, but was not regarded. Night and 



70 THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

day he offered up his fervent petitions, but they brought 
no return, save their own cold echo, to his heart. What 
then does he now think of God ? Does he still trust in 
the Hearer of prayer, even though he hear him not? 
This is the momentous question. In this all the anxie- 
ties of devils are centred ; on this hinges the salvation 
of men. To decide this great question, Christ is brought 
to this narrow strait. To demonstrate to the glory of 
God, and the confusion of the " father of lies," that a hu- 
man soul can trust in the Lord even when he appears to 
frown, Christ placed himself in his present unparalleled 
position. Nay, to prove that a human soul can not only 
trust for future deliverance, but even justify God in re- 
gard to present inflictions, and acknowledge his righte- 
ousness in the severest of trials, Christ here adds, " But 
thou art holy, O Thou that inhabitest the praises of Is- 
rael ;" or, as it is rendered in the Prayer-book version, 
" But thou continuest holy, O thou worship of Israel." 
Here is the triumph of faith. The Saviour stood hke a 
rock in the wide ocean of temptation. High as the bil- 
lows rose, so did his faith, like the coral rock, wax 
greater and stronger, till it became an island of salvation 
to our shipwrecked souls. " Thou art holy." It is as if 
he had said, " It matters not what I endure. Storms 
may howl upon me ; men despise; devils tempt; circum- 
stances overpower ; and God himself forsake me ; still 
God is holy, there is no unrighteousness in him." 

The Saviour painfully experienced on the cross that 
the dealings of Providence were altered towards him, but 
he never conceived that the paternal heart was changed. 
He felt that an awful burden lay upon him. He was 
conscious that the '*' thick cloud" of the world's transgres- 
sions had come between him and God, so that his prayer 
had not yet passed through, Lam. iii. 44. His soul was 
overwhelmed with horror at the strange sensation of 



THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 71 

being unable to discern a Father's face, or feel his all- 
pervading presence. A mere man in such a situation 
would have murmured, would have ceased to pray to one 
who hid his face. But not so the " God of patience," 
Rom. XV. 5. He neither broke forth with repinings, nor 
sunk back into sullen silence. The contradictions of 
sinners, the insinuations of Satan, the piercings of the 
flesh, the anguish of desertion, extorted from the im- 
maculate Redeemer, no other than this most blessed tes- 
timony regarding his Father, "But thou art holy." 

This is the highest testimony which human thought, 
or language, can render. " Holy" is an unrivalled, un- 
exampled, term. No equivalent word can be substituted. 
It signifies not merely a righteousness which law has not 
condemned, and a purity which sin has never sullied ; 
but a righteousness which law cannot condemn, and a 
purity which sin cannot defile. God is holy. This ex- 
presses the highest idea we can form of absolute per- 
fection. It includes both a negative and positive sense. 
It denotes the absence of whatever is weak, selfish, sin- 
ful, and polluted ; and the presence of essential purity, 
goodness, love, and every excellency. God is holy. "He 
CANNOT be tempted with sin ; neither tempteth he 
any man,'' James i. 13. This sets before us a two-fold 
view of the Divine holiness. First, as it refers to God 
himself; and. Secondly, to ourselves. The nature of 
God is such that it is utterly impossible he can be tempted 
by Satan, or man, to form an uncharitable judgment, 
utter a rash sentence, or do an unkind or unjust act to- 
wards any of his creatures. Sin cannot present itself 
in any form so as to gain his approbation or consent. He 
is immaculate in holiness. Like the pure light of hea- 
ven, he can no more be affected by the sins of the w5rld, 
than can the solar orb by the vapours of our earth. 



72 THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

Like the sun too, in its own light, God is glorious in 

HIS own holiness, Exod. XV. 11. 

Secondly, in reference to us, it is said, " Neither tempt- 
eth he any man." God cannot be tempted, neither 
CAN he tempt. This latter assertion refers not to the 
power of God, as if he were incapable ; but to his na- 
ture, whereby he is unwiUing ; and it is stated in this 
positive form in reference to all his outgoings towards 
man. He doth not tempt. The nature of God is 
such that he never did, never will, never can, do any 
thing to induce man or angel to deviate in the shghtest 
degree from moral rectitude. Neither storm nor sun- 
shine, prosperity nor adversity, are sent by God on his 
creatures, to lead them into sin. He cannot do so, any 
more than the sun can send forth rays of darkneso. 

The Divine nature is holy. Holiness in God is essen- 
tial and underived. It is not merely one of the attributes 
of the Godhead. Tt is the foundation and perfection of 
them all. Therefore, says an old divine, '-Holiness is 
the beauty of all God's attributes ; without which his 
wisdom would be subtilty, his justice cruelty, his sover- 
eignty t3aanny, his mercy foolish pity." 

The holiness of God, therefore, is the perfection of his 
perfections, the excellency of his excellences, and the 
glory of all his attributes. God the Father is holy ; God 
the Son is holy ; God the Spirit is holy. The anthem 
therefore of eternity which angels sing is, " Holy, holy, 
holy. Lord God Almighty." They behold continual dis- 
plays of the wisdom, power, justice, truth, and goodness of 
Jehovah ; these attract their admiration and excite their 
praises. But when they look to him who " sitteth upon 
the throne of his holiness," Psa. xlvii. 8, they are dazzled 
by the glistening brightness of eternal purity ; and 
instantly conscious how in his sight the heavens are not 
clean. Job xv. 15, and themselves chargeable with folly, 



THE ACKNOWLEDGMKNT. 73 

Job iv. IS, the seraphims cover their faces, and their feet, 
as they fly in adoration around it ; and not venturing 
directly to address the High and Holy one that inhabiteth 
eternity, they cry one to another, ^* Holy, holy, holy, is 
the Lord of hosts,*' Isa. vi. 2, 3. 

If such be the hi^h and heavenly glory of the God- 
head, ought it not also to be our distinguishing theme 
of praise on earth ? The gods of the nations were prover- 
bially patterns of impurity, yet they v^^orshipped them. 
Herein consisted the glory of the Hebrew nation, that 
they alone venerated the pure and holy Jehovah. His 
name is The Worship of Israel. He inhabited the praises 
of the chosen people. The remembrance of his name 
was kept alive by their tabernacle and temple. He de- 
clared of them, '-'This is my rest; here will I dwell." 
He exhibited himself among them by a dark cloud and 
a shining glory ; and he gav^e them his blessing from 
off the mercy-seat. Their polity is done away, but the 
Holy One is still worshipped by the Israel of God. 
That name is applied in Scripture to all who partake of 
Jacob's spirit, who prevail in prayer with God ; ^' for 
they are not all Israel who are of Israel," Rom. ix. 6. 
Every true Israelite, then, every one who through prayer 
has obtained this new name, is sure to offer up praises 
and thanksgivings. These are acceptable to the Most 
High, they ascend before him as clouds of incense. 
They encompass his throne. He dwells in the midst of 
them. The false gods possessed the praises of the hea- 
then, and their polluted names occupied their songs. 
But the holy Jehovah exclusively possessed the prayers 
of the Hebrews. His name alone is celebrated in the 
hymns of the spiritual worshipper, the Israelite indeed. 
Wander wide over the earth, enter wherever two or 
three are gathered together in the name of Jesus, listen 
to the prayers and praises of those who worship Jehovah 

r 



74 THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

" in spirit and in truth," and none other but the name of 
the one Hving and true God shall be heard praised for 
its holiness, extolled alone as excellent. How admirably 
the praises of the church below accord with those of the 
church, and the angelic hosts, above ! The highest 
note we raise on earth harmonizes with the three-fold 
chord which is struck in heaven. We sing in feeble, 
broken strains, " The Lord is righteous in all his ways, 
and holy in all his w^orks," Psa. cxlv. 17. They fill eter- 
nity with their sweUing symphony, " Holy, holy, holy, is 
the Lord of hosts," Isa. vi. 3. 

Meditate frequently on the holiness of God. This 
will beget holy desires in your soul, which, by the Spirit 
of grace, will ripen into the fruits of righteousness, which 
are by Jesus Christ unto the praise and glory of God, 
Phil. i. 11. Remember that it is only by the help of 
the Lord the Spirit, that your mind can reach this trans- 
cendent theme. He is eminently called the Holy Spirit ; 
not because he is more holy than the other persons in 
the sacred Trinity, but because he is known to us as the 
revealer, the communicator, and the preserver of holiness. 
It is a high and God-like desire to be holy. The most 
debased of men often wish to attain heaven, because 
they think they shall be happy. But to pant after an 
unsullied purity of nature, and to disregard safety of con- 
dition as nothing in comparison with restoration to holi- 
ness, is not a mortal man's suggestion, but an inspired 
thought which proceeds from the "Spirit of holiness." 
Heaven is not a mere place of safety ; it is a paradise of 
purity. The happiness of heaven is based on the holi- 
ness of its inhabitants. God is holy, and his angels 
holy ; the Redeemer is holy, and his people holy : there 
are none in heaven beside. That word which sinners 
refuse to hear on earth, " Be ye holy ; for I am holy," 1 
Pet. i. 16, is a word which gladdens heaven, and imparts 



THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 75 

fresh feelings of unity to tiie whole family of glory. 
Therefore seek after the attainment of holiness as the 
first point of earthly duty, the highest of heavenly privi- 
lege. The mind of the infinite God is occupied by this 
desire ; therefore he sends mercies to gain our affections. 
He delivers us from the hands of our enemies, that we 
may serve him in holiness all the days of our life, Luke 
i. 74, 75. Therefore also he administers the rod of cor- 
rection, that we may become '' partakers of his holiness,'* 
Heb. xii. 10. Mark that scripture. Let it be engraved 
on the heart of every afflicted Christian. Here is un- 
folded the great secret which actuates the Most High in 
the severest of his afflictions. Fathers of our flesh cor- 
rected us after their own pleasure. The infliction, per- 
haps, was more frequently proportioned to the amount of 
their own anger, than to the magnitude of the offence. 
The destruction of some trifle which they valued might 
draw down the severest correction ; while, perhaps, some 
flagrant violation of the holy law of God was overlooked 
or feebly reproved. Of none, but the heavenly Parent, 
can it be said that his inflictions were invariably intended 
for our profit. In him there can be no caprice of feehng, 
no error in judgment, no mistake as to the object, the 
cause, or the motive of the correction. The objects of 
his fatherly chastisements are his own sons and daugh- 
ters, whom he is preparing for glory. The causes are 
their omissions of duty, their short-comings in love, their 
wilful transgressions, and their dulness in spiritual learn- 
ing. The motive is their true and eternal benefit. 
The Scripture here calls it their ^'' profit ^ What heart 
can sufficiently exult at eternal gain ? What power of 
calculation can estimate its amount? This ^^profiV^ is 
that we might be " partakers of his holiness." 
Not the holiness of angels, but that of God himself. Af- 
flictions, therefore, are designed to accomplish the same 



76 THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

end with " the exceeding great and precious promises." 
What St. Paul declares to be the object of the former, is 
identical with what St. Peter tells us is the intention of 
the latter, " that by these ye might be partakers of the 
Divine nature," 2 Pet. i. 4. 

Who will then repine ? Who wall not rejoice at the 
amazing disclosure of this God-like purpose? To what 
an elevation of sentiment does this exalt us ! We can 
look with calm countenance on an ocean of trouble, and 
say to the fiercest waves, " Ye are servants for our good." 
Nay, with the apostle St. Paul, even if the " outward man 
perish," we can call it a " light afHiction," which '^ work- 
eth for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory," 2 Cor. iv. 17. Hence, too, w^e are enabled to see 
and estimate the propriety of that, to carnal sense, unin- 
telligible injunction of the apostle, '^ Count it all joy when 
ye fall into divers temptations," James i. 2. We feel 
that we are put in possession of a principle which shall 
subvert the machinations of the powers of darkness, and 
" survive the crash of w^orlds." Therefore we cling to it 
in every storm. When every other stay is gone, we cast 
ourselves upon the holiness of God : when racking pains, 
and alarming fears, render the spirit mute with anguish ; 
so that we cannot, for the moment say, that God is love, 
or merciful, or gracious, still we can ejaculate betw^een 
every pang, ''But — thou art holy." 

Christian reader, does thy religion possess a sanctify- 
ing power over thy heart? Is it a service of "profit" to 
the soul? Art thou advancing in holiness of heart and 
life ? This is the one grand question. The minister and 
his flock must be holy. When Aaron entered the inner 
sanctuary, ''Holiness to the Lord" must be en- 
graven in golden letters in the forefront of his mitre, 
Exod. xxviii. 36. 

Art thou consecrated by the imposition of hands to be 



THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 77 

a minister of the Gospel 7 See that thine heart be wholly- 
consecrated to the Lord. Preach to others, but be not 
thyself a cast-away, 1 Cor. ix. 27. God hath made thee 
a keeper of the vineyards, but does conscience whisper, 
that the vineyard of thine own heart, thou hast not kept? 
Cant. i. 6. Examine diligently ; prove thine own self. 
The habit of teaching others, is most deceitful as to our- 
selves. We, who are called to minister, occupy a post 
of two-fold danger. O man of God, that art devout at 
the altar, and eloquent in the pulpit, what art thou in 
thy closet ? Is it thy earnest desire and prayer to be 
freed from every inward as well as outward sin ? Are 
thy petitions fervent to the Spirit of holiness to " cleanse 
the thoughts of thy heart by his heavenly inspiration?" 
Is thy ministry conducted with daily and especial prayer 
for the Spirit's guidance in wisdom and knowledge, 
soundness of mind, and integrity of purpose? — and for 
the Spirit's blessing on thy flock, thy household, and 
thyself, by means of the preached word, the prayers of 
faith, and the sealing sacraments ? 

Or art thou a hearer of the word ? What ^^ profit ^^ 
dost thou gain ? Art thou accumulating spiritual wealth ? 
The riches of heaven is the pure gold of holiness. Christ 
counsels thee to buy of him gold tried in the fire, that 
thou mayest be rich. Rev. iii. 18. Buy it without mon- 
ey, Isa. Iv. 1. Purchase it by prayer. Ask for it. Seek 
to be freed from sin. Set thyself against one iniquity 
after another. Put them all aside. Keep them in check. 
Be not afraid to detect them. Learn to count them your 
enemies. Therefore hate them. Cut off open sins, and 
heart-sins. Allow not one wilful transgression ; and 
search out all thy short-comings and omissions. Put off 
evils ; put on also virtues. Begin to regard thy spiritual 
wants as of greater importance than thy temporal cra- 
vings. Hunger and thirst after righteousness. This 

7^ 



78 THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

is the meat of which the world knows not. Is it the food 
after which thy soul longs ? Dost thou strive to be void 
of offence before God and man ? Is it thy study to keep 
thy conscience quick, and tender, and clean? Is thy 
spiritual sensibiUty increasing? Art thou able to say 
with Job, ^^ I have heard of thee by the hearing of the 
ear, but now mine eye seeth thee ; wherefore I abhor 
myself, and repent in dust and ashes ?" Job xhi. 5, 6. 
Art thou walking in the hght, and consequently able to 
discern more clearly than before ? When thy thoughts 
wander, when desires rise, when love grows cold, art 
thou instantly on the watch ? Dost thou mourn to find 
it so ? Dost thou ingenuously confess it, or dost thou pass 
it over as a small thing? Is there a godly jealousy at 
work within thee? Dost thou strive, with the Spirit 
working in thee mightily, to bring every thought into 
obedience to Christ Jesus ? 2 Cor. x. 5. Art thou filled 
with a heavenly ambition to be restored to thine original, 
but forfeited, likeness to the image of God? Gen. i. 
26, 27 ; Col. iii. 10. This is a noble desire. The Spirit 
of God alone implanted it. Even forgiveness is not in 
itself to be compared to this. It is easy, it is natural, it is 
selfish, to long for safety, and wish for happiness, and 
deliverance from punishment. But to sigh for holiness^ 
to pant after freedom, not merely from condemnation, 
but from the sin that causes it^ is the true, the heaventy, 
the eternal principle of spiritual life. Therefore the Sa- 
viour pronounces his benediction on all such, " Blessed 
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God," Matt. v. 8. 
When, then, O aflElicted Christian, thou art cast down 
and disquieted — when sin tempts thee — when even the 
Scripture distresses thee, which declares that " without 
holiness no man shall see the Lord," Heb. xii. 14 : still 
trust in God, for thou shalt yet praise him for the help of 
his countenance, Psa. xlii. 11. Remember thy Saviour's 



THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 79 

benediction, to strengthen thee. Remember the will of 
God for thy sanctification, to encourage thee. Remem- 
ber the gift of the Holy Spirit the sanctifier, to help thee, 
to work in thee, to re-create thee after the image of Jesus 
in righteousness and true hoUness, Eph. iv. 24. Re- 
member the precious promises are given to make thee a 
partaker of the Divine nature, 2 Pet. i. 4. Remember 
that thy sorest trials are sent for thy profit, to make thee 
a partaker of God's hohness, Heb. xii. 10. Keep stead- 
fastly therefore, in the highway of holiness, Isa. xxxv. 8. 
It will conduct thee to that land, where, in perfect hght, 
thou shalt see what good reasons thou hadst to triumph 
over every trial and difficulty, replying to them all, •• But 
—God is holy.'' 



THE CONTRAST. 



Verses 4, 5, 6. — Our fathers timsled in thee: tfiey Irusled^ and 
thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee^ and were de- 
livered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But 
I am a worm, and no man : a reproach of men, and despised 
of the people. 

The history of a soul's struggle to maintain its con- 
scious dependence upon God, is deeply interesting and 
instructive. When lively love and gratitude occupy the 
heart ; when conscience condemns not for any special 
sin : when faith takes hold of one or more of the exceed- 
ing great and precious promises, as, " I will never leave 
thee, I will never forsake thee ;" then indeed our happi- 
ness abounds, our joy promises to be perpetual ; God ap- 
pears to be all love, all graciousness. But when these 
are gone ; when a denunciation instead of a promise 
stands most vividly before the mind ; when conscience 
sounds an alarm in all our faculties — when fears within, 
instead of love — fightings without, instead of songs of grat- 
itude ; — and when perplexity unnerves us on every side, 
then indeed we feel that our own strength is rottenness, 
and that the wisdom and righteousness of man are ut- 
terly insufficient to bring us into the haven of peace. Like 
a ship in the storm, the soul loses one stay after another. 
The sails of love and gratitude are torn ; the rudder 
of faith unshipped ; the anchor of hope broken ; and the 
compass of the word too much neglected. Despair be- 
gins to paralyze all exertion. But the Captain was once 
in as desperate a condition, and was rescued. Or per- 
haps some obscure individual on board asserts there was 



THE CONTRAST. 81 

once a vessel saved from similar danger. Instantly the 
feeble crew gain strength, and that rallying word seems 
like life from the dead. '' If others, why may not we be 
saved?" Just so is it w4th the soul. When we cannot 
strengthen ourselves on the promises by faith, we take 
refuge in God's providence by sense. When memory 
fails to recall the deliverances and mercies which we 
have ourselves experienced^ we next endeavour to medi- 
tate on those of others. This has afforded seasonable re- 
lief to many of God's people in hours of trial ; therefore 
it is highly advantageous to be acquainted with the 
memoirs of tried and advanced Christians, especially 
with the narratives of Scripture Saints. See how the 
apostle James encourages to patience. He does not 
merely say, " Behold, we count them happy which en- 
dure," but he adds, "Ye have heard of the patience of 
Job, and have seen the end of the Lord ; that tlie Lord 
is very pitiful, and of tender mercy," James v. 11. This, 
then, is a scriptural mode of encouragement. It is an 
argument of two-fold power. Our Lord here employs it 
for the double purpose of influencing his Father, and of 
encouraging himself. 

This passage is a continuation of that filial acknowl- 
edgment by which he glorified God in the preceding 
verse. It is as thoygh he would say, " I have declared 
for myself, thou art holy. I further testify that though 
clouds and darkness be round about thee now to my ex- 
perience, yet our fathers trusted in thee in their deepest 
trials, and found thee holy too." He repeats the term in 
the 4th verse, " They trusted in thee ; they trusted." 
He reiterates the same idea in the 5th, "They cried unto 
thee : they trusted in thee :" as if he would feed his faith 
on theirs, and increase his own trust by enlarging upon 
that which they exhibited. Or rather as if he would 
imply that he also " tmsts," and " trusts" as they did ; 



82 THE CONTRAST. 

that he still cried, still trusted, and therefore why shoula 
there be such a difference between his experience and 
theirs ? It is a powerful mode of pleading our own 
cause, when we put it into the same form with another 
that has obtained a successful issue. Christ here ex- 
presses that success in an exquisitely appropriate manner. 
First, the direct and effectual agency of God himself is 
intimated, '^ Thou didst deliver them." Next, this fact 
is stated with double reference, " They were delivered" 
as to their persons ; they were ^^ not confounded" as to 
their expectations. What a series of powerful arguments 
these verses contain. First, " Our fathers," therefore we 
•their children should follow their example. Secondly, 
'• trusted in thee," therefore thou art worthy to be trust- 
ed. Thirdly, " Thou didst (powerfully) deliver them ;" 
therefore thou canst dehver me. Fourthly, " 'I'hou didst 
(willingly) deliver them ;" therefore thou mayestbe will- 
ing to deliver me. Fifthly, '* They cried unto thee ;" 
therefore will I cry and never cease. Sixthlyj " They 
trusted, and were not confounded ;" I too will trust, 
and surely I shall not be confounded. 

Overcome, as it were, wHth a sense of God's great mer- 
cy to the fathers of old time — painfully conscious of that 
desertion, under the darkness of which he was hanging 
upon the cross, our Lord next utters t^is disparaging con- 
trast, as if in justification of his Father's absence from 
him, " But I am a worm." This is an expression of 
feeling, of that strong feeling w^hich must be expressed 
in strong terms. But assuredly, it was also right feeling. 
Christ spoke what he felt — he felt what was correct. 
God tlie Father, and God the Holy Ghost, with whom 
his spirit had always enjoyed full and conscious commu- 
nion, were now absent. The spirit of Christ was thus 
left to feel its contiguity with the flesh. As the lonely 
prisoner becomes more sensitive to the gloom of his dun 



THE CONTRAST. 83 

geoii walls, when the friend whose visit cheered him has 
withdrawn ; so the spkit of Christ, having no one now 
with whom to commune, had its attention powerfully 
called to its earthly tenement. Though pressed beyond 
measure with its own sorrows, it could not be insensible 
to the sufferings of the companion flesh, quivering in its 
agony. Fully alive, then, to the weakness of his ani- 
mal existence, closely pressed by its wants and pains, the 
Saviour felt himself placed by it on a level with the 
meanest of the creatures. " I am but flesh as they are. 
These pains tell me that I am of the earth — a piece of 
animated dust — an animal — a worm." Such appear to 
have been the Redeemer's feelings. He perceived that 
his flesh was as helpless as a worm — powerless and pas- 
sive, that creature is crushed beneath the foot of man. 
Christ now felt his human nature to be void of all ener- 
gy, or power of resistance, sinking under its own suffer- 
ings, and unable to aid liis spirit in sustaining the heavy 
load. This expression therefore is not an exaggeration 
— not a mere burst of grief, such as we poor mortals use 
in our calamities. It was not a word weightier than his 
woe ; it was a deliberate utterance ; a melancholy but 
correct exclamation. Christ had become exquisitely con- 
scious of the earthliness of his humanity ; and we must 
carefully note that it is only of his flesh — of his inferior 
part — of his humanity, that he here speaks ; and when 
he calls it " a worm," we are to understand that he felt 
it to be nothing but utter weakness. 

So little accustomed, however, are we to regard our 
Divine Master as having really " made himself of no 
REPUTATION," Phil. ii. 7, that we are tempted to turn 
away from such representations, and deem them unbe- 
coming. How little, consequently, can we appreciate 
the condescension of our Lord ! How unable must we 
be to sympathize with him when he most requires it ! 



84 THE CONTRAST. 

If our Lord were really brought to such a depth of sor- 
row, and such an extremity of feehng, surely we ought 
not to withhold our sympathies from him. Well may 
he exclaim in the words of the prophet, " Is it nothing to 
you, all ye that pass by ? behold, and see if there be any 
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me, 
wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me, in the day of his 
fierce anger," Lam. i. 12. Should we, then, to gain a 
fuller insight into the depth of our Saviour's sufferings, 
prosecute this inquiry, it may be asked. If our Lord 
could say with truth ^^ I am a worm," how could he add, 
" and no man ?" We answer, that the very same sor- 
row which suggested the one expression, dictated also 
the other. He really was to his own sensible and op- 
pressed apprehension, but a piece of animated matter, a 
worm, and not what man is, or what man ought to be. ' 
Let us consider these two points ; they are of essential 
importance to a clear and full understancUng of this mo- 
mentous subject. We say Christ, to his own sensible 
apprehension, was not what man is, or what man ought 
to be. First, he was not what man is. Man is a piece 
of animated matter — so was Christ ; but man is a piece 
of sinful matter — not so Christ. His humanity was un- 
stained and spotless ; his flesh had the nature, but not 
the sinful nature of man. Christ, therefore, is not what 
man is. His humanity, consequently, is not improperly 
or inappropriately compared to, and denominated, a 
worm. Indeed, that despised creatuie's animal life has a 
resemblance and affinity to that of Christ, which ours 
does not possess. All the wants and feelings of its na- 
ture exist without the least admixture of sin. Its pain 
and suffering is simple feeling, unalloyed and unsullied. 
And though two human beings were now in the same 
bodily pain as our Lord, yet we would rather compare 
the agony and writhings of a worm, than those of these 



THE CONTRAST. 85 

crucified meii; to the sufferings of our immaculate Re- 
deemer. In fallen man, there cannot exist a pure, sim- 
ple, uncompounded feeling. Cotem|)oraneously with 
every movement of our flesh, there is excited some un- 
worthy, or sinful, desire or emotion. Self-complacency, 
pride, contempt, disdain, resistance, defiance, impatience, 
anger, revenge, are not unlikely, some one or more, to be 
engendered in the breast of every man, under either de- 
served, or unmerited, sufferings and reproach. But the 
bodily sensations of Christ never produced, and were 
never accompanied by, any such emotions. His w^ords 
and feelings, under his several sufferings, had no more 
sin than have the writhings of a tortured worm. He 
suffered simple unmitigated agony. It is no objection to 
reply that a worm cannot entertain these sentiments, by 
the very constitution of its nature ; for this only brings to 
view another and more striking point of the comparison. 
it was just so with Christ. By the constitution of his 
nature, he could not entertain these sentiments ; no such 
emotions served to counteract the intensity of his pains. 
Therefore, the resemblance is more perfect, and the Sa- 
viour, conscious of its completeness, might well say, " I 
am a worm and no man'' — not what man is. 

Secondly, I am not what man ought to be. Man was 
created in the perfection of his nature, a being " very 
good," as he came from the hands of his Creator. It 
may be that he was not only beautiful in himself, but 
also bright with the reflection of liis Maker's glory. A 
shining radiance, such as remained on the face of Moses 
for days after his communion with Jehovah, might well 
be imagined to have glowed from the whole body of Ad- 
am, who lived and moved and had his being in God. 
If this were so, what a marked and instantaneous loss 
did our first parents sustain by their transgression ! The 
conjecture serves to account for their immediate discov 

8 



86 THE CONTRAST. 

ery of nakedness. But, be that as it may, this we cer- 
tainly know, that man lost the balance of power amongst 
his members. The harmony between his spirit and his 
flesh was destroyed : he became subject to pain and 
weariness, to hunger and thirst, to toil and sweat, to sor- 
row, sickness, and death. When, therefore, Christ came 
into the human nature, he found himself not what man 
was, or what man ought to be. Born, however, as we 
are, in the fallen condition, we feel not its detriments ; 
we possess no means of comparison ; we never knew 
any thing better. But it was not so with our Lord and 
Master. He possessed a previous existence, and knew, 
not only in what goodly condition Adam was created, 
but also the glory of his own existence before the world 
was made. Christ was a real living metempsychosis. 
The only one that our earth has ever seen. He brought 
the feelings of another state of being into this. He occu- 
pied humanity with recollections of Deity. Though this 
notion of the heathens, as they explain and understand 
it, is both false and foolish, yet it has a foundation in 
truth. Here is an instance of it in the person of Christ. 
And when Christ came into the human nature, he might 
well exclaim, " I am no man. I am not such as I made 
him ; nor am I what man ought to be." 

Endeavour, O Christian, to enter, as fully as possible, 
into your Saviour's feelings when he tabernacled in your 
flesh. We may illustrate them by this doctrine of the 
transmigration of souls. Suppose this heathenish tenet 
to be exemplified in the case of a renowned and mighty 
conqueror. Suppose his soul at death to have passed into 
the body of a worm. Imagine his lofty and ambitious 
spirit confined for a time to this miserable house of clay 
— wrigghng his length along where his victorious troops 
had marched. Endeavour to conceive what must be the 
feelings of a human spirit in such a condition. With 



THE CONTRAST. 87 

what force must he feel the change ! How constantly 
would he be galled and fretted with his sluggish flesh ! 
With what emphasis w^ould he exclaim, " I am a worm 
and no man, a reproach of men, and despised of the peo- 
ple." Life would be a perpetual burden, umelieved, save 
when communing with his former self. Imagine, then, 
this only remaining source of consolation to be closed ; 
all pleasing recollection of the past, and hope for the fu- 
ture, eclipsed ; and his attention attracted by nothing but 
the sensations of his earthly part. Yv^hat a distressing 
moment of existence ! What a revolting consciousness 
of his present self must be oppressing him ! We will 
pursue the analogy no further : it is one of the gross doc- 
trines of debasing heathenism ! How unlike our pure 
exalting Christianity ! Yet it illustrates this subject. 
What we have here supposed of debasement and humil- 
iation in the experience of a human spirit, sunk not 
only to the level, but to the very identity, of a creeping 
thing, is nothing compared to that of God himself de- 
scending into human nature, iln insect bears some pro- 
portion to man, but man bears none to the Most High. 
The sensations of a human spirit, pent up in an earth- 
worm, are altogether inadequate to represent the feehngs 
of the Son of God when embodied in human flesh. 
Confessedly " Great is the mystery of godliness. God 
was manifest in the flesh." '- For as the reasonable soul 
and flesh is one man, so God and man is one Christ." 
And that one Christ was now racked as with a double cru- 
cifixion — his body on the material, and his soul on the 
spiritual, cross. Satan was bruising him with assaults 
of temptation. Man was bruising him with reproach 
and despisings. It pleased the Lord to bruise him with 
desertion and the curse. The odious burden of sin was 
also bruising him. He himself abhorred the sins he was 
bearing away. Under this fourfold bruising, the agony 



88 THE CONTRAST* 

of Christ's flesh was intense, and the anguish of his spirit 
overpowering. He felt his fleshly part sinking rapidly. 
Instead of aiding the spirit to endure, it was becoming a 
dead weight. Its sharp, shooting, pangs were like so 
many barbed arrows to his aheady wounded spirit. But 
for his union with the flesh, he could not have ex- 
perienced these griefs. He had eternally dwelt in un- 
alloyed, and uninterrupted bliss. His birth in flesh 
brought him into close and painful contact with another 
form of being. The Godhead was all peace, all glory ; 
the manhood all grief, pain, and debasement. No won- 
der, then, that he complains against it, calls it a worm, 
and not what man ought to be. 

The original is very expressive. It denotes a purple 
coloured worm — the cochineal insect, from which the 
bright and beautiful dye is made. Thus it is a most ap- 
propriate emblem of the Redeemer. It exhibits him in a 
threefold respect. First, as covered with the crimson 
sins of the world. Secondly, as scarlet with his own 
blood. Thirdly, as yielding by his death, that blessed 
dye which removes all our stains, and presents us with- 
out spot in the presence of Jehovah. The Saviour says, 
"I am as the crimson worm. I stand before God col- 
oured with imputed sin. He treats me accordingly. 
All the fathers tRisted in the Lord, and were severally 
delivered. Their expectations were not co-founded ; 
but I am as the worm, more valuable in death than 
life." 

This figure and illustration is not without example in 
other parts of Scripture. Job was reduced to such a 
state of suffering and depression, that he exclaims, " I 
have said to corruption. Thou art my father: to the 
worm. Thou art my mother, and my sister," Job xvii. 
14. Every individual of the human race is also repre- 
sented as unclean before the great God, and cornpared to 



THE CONTRAST. 89 

the same despised creature, Job xxv. 6. When God ad- 
dresses the Jewish church with words of encouragementj 
he shows how fully he enters into her utter nothingness, 
and that he would not that she herself should forget it, 
by using this figure, " Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, 
and ye men of Israel ; I will help thee, saith the Lord," 
Isa. xh. 14. 

It may be, and not unfrequently is, the experience of 
the Christian, to be brought into loneliness of spirit — en- 
joying no sensible communion with God — deprived also 
of the ordinances of religion and intercourse with pious 
friends. Through sickness, or disease, the memory may 
be weakened, and meditation on the past may have be- 
come almost an empty void. Fears and doubts may 
have closed the eye of hope, and shut out all comfort- 
able prospect of the future. We seem, at such times, to 
be conscious to httle more than the fact that w^e are alive. 
We begin to learn the strange lesson that self is a bur- 
den. In proportion to that degree of love to hohness 
which the Christian may previously have attained, so 
will be his detestation of that burden. He will feel, not 
only his nothingness, but his sinfulness. The one will 
impart a sensation of depression ; the other of self-abhor- 
rence. Should we hear him, while in this condition, 
giving utterance to his feelings, we might be tempted to 
imagine that he used terms by far too strong, exaggera- 
ted, and hyperbolical. If w^e have made little progress 
in the school of Christian experience, our astonishment 
becomes proportionably greater, and we the more readily 
conclude, that he does not seriously mean all that he ex- 
presses. Not unfrequently we detect ourselves putting 
the same construction on the recorded sentiments of the 
Scripture worthies. In reading some of the strong ex- 
pressions of feeling, which, for instance, David, Job, 
Jeremiah, and Paul, employ, we are apt to receive them 



90 THE CONTRAST. 

Avith considerable allowance ; we imagine that they speak 
with morbid feelings, that they would not use such lan- 
guage at other times, and that they are not really such 
as they describe themselves to be. Not a little also of 
this feeling accompanies our perusal of the Gospels. We 
can hardly persuade ourselves that' the Saviour, being 
God, felt the various emotions of grief and joy, the sen- 
sations of hunger, weariness, and pain, the trials of spirit, 
or tortures of flesh, of which we read ; or that if he felt 
them, they could not make much impression. We have 
an indistinct conviction, that though there were the out- 
ward appearances of all these, yet that there was always a 
holy calm within, and that his breast could not verily be 
agitated with any thing like human sorrow. 

This is an insidious and dangerous principle. To 
establish our own experience as the standard by which 
to judge that of others, is most destructive to the health 
of our own souls, as well as derogatory and calumnious 
of the work of grace in our fellow-creatures. We have 
no right to conclude that they over-state the case, merely 
because rue have not felt the same. It is no objection, 
that they would not use that language at other times. 
They might not. But it does not, therefore, follow, that 
theu* lowest apprehension of themselves was incorrect or 
exaggerated. So far from this, tinth compels us to assert 
that the strongest expressions of self-abhorrence and de- 
basement which any fallen mortal has ever uttered, are 
far short of the reality. God's eye discerns, and God's 
purity abhors, in our sin-tainted nature, far more than any 
mere man has ever yet discovered. The human intel- 
lect can neither scan the height of Godhead glory, nor 
fathom the depth of human emptiness and pollution. 
The God-man had both before his eye at one glance. 
In full contrast He beheld them. And if sin, when 
merely imputed, could bring his holy and unsullied hu • 



THE CONTRAST. 91 

man soul to such a depth of depression, and such an ex- 
tremity of anguish, how much more would inherent sin 
bring* each of us, were we only capable of regarding it 
with correct, that is, sanctified apprehension ? But it is 
impossible. A full view of sin, as it appears before the 
perfect God, could not be borne by mortals. And those 
of our race who have most clearly discerned it in them- 
selves, who have most bitterly bewailed their condition, 
and who have employed the strongest expressions of self- 
abhorrence, have only advanced a little beyond their fel- 
lows, but have never wholly learned the awful reality, and, 
consequently, cannot have over-stated it. None but a per- 
fectly holy being can take a full and perfect view" of sin. 
Those who once were pure, as the angels that sinned, 
know from what a height they have fallen, but it is im- 
possible, with their evil nature, that they can form a just 
estimate of their present condition. Much less can we 
of ours. 

Born in the flesh, we know nothing higher, till the 
Spirit of God implant heavenly desires. Then we begin 
to know, and feel, and hate, our native condition, x^nd 
in proportion as the mental eye is fixed on the purity and 
holiness of heaven, brought near to us in Jesus Christ, so 
is our knowledge of our sinfulness, and our abhorrence 
of our pollution. If such be the feelings of a heart sanc- 
tified only in measure, what must have been the sensa- 
tions and sentiments of the Holy One of God, w^hen liv- 
ing amongst men ! He came into the w^orld purer than 
the breath of morning. He shone upon the earth as free 
from sin as the sun is free from darkness. But the 
brightness of his holiness only brought to light the uni- 
versality and corruption of sin. He came from a region 
where the love of God beat high in every breast, and he 
now moved in one where love to self was the great ruhng 
principle. Imagine a son living in a territory where his 



92 THE CONTRAST. 

father has been dethroned, and from which he has been 
banished. He speaks on his behalf, and they will not 
hear ; he tells them of his love, and they will not believe 
it. He invites them to join his cause, and at last gets 
only twelve men to attach themselves openly to his per- 
son. Imagine his ardent soul fettered by an enfeebled 
body. With a love that never tires, and a devotion 
that never slumbers, he has limbs, that fail with weari- 
ness, and eyes that close in sleep. His willing spirit 
finds the flesh unequal to the task. It acts as a perpet- 
ual clog. So was it with our blessed Lord. He lived in 
a camp of rebels, where all were traitors to the Most 
High. His fervent spirit was ever ready to discharge 
his great commission. But his human body needed con- 
tinual rest, refreshment, and attention. And now that 
it was suspended on the cross in torture, our Lord felt to 
the utmost the weakness and nothingness of the flesh. 
2 Cor. xiii. 4. Sinking under its own sufferings, it 
formed a striking contrast to the noble spirit, which the 
most protracted sorrows could not subdue. Therefore, 
he calls it a worm, a helpless thing, and speaks of him- 
self as not possessing the endurance and energetic vigour 
of a man. 

Let the depressed and sorrowing Christian learn from 
this how to extract consolation from true and scriptural 
distinctions. Our Lord marks what is pecuhar to the 
flesh, but never condemns a sinless infirmity of the body. 
He accepts the homage of the heart, even when the out- 
ward posture seems to express the very contrary. Our 
Lord submitted to learn this by experience, that having 
been tried in all points as w^e are, he might be able to 
sympathize with us. See how in the garden, when 
shamefully left by his disciples to watch alone, he gra- 
ciously supplied from his own knowledge that one only 
consideration which could extenuate their conduct. " The 



THE CONTRAST. 93 

spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Here is a dis- 
tinction which the mourning Christian often overlooks. 
He condemns himself at times in matters which are ref- 
erable only to physical causes. The state of his health, 
the tone of the nervous system, the influence of weather, 
are some of the agents which produce low and despond- 
ing thoughts. He charges himself with unbelief and 
distrust of God, and wishes to resemble others whom he 
sees calm and cheerful in their deportment. He forgets 
that such happy frames of mind may be as entirely 
owing to the influence of health and good animal spirits, 
as his own depression is the consequence of the reverse. 
Therefore, let him learn to distinguish between his flesh 
and his spirit. While he ought no more to rest contented 
with a desponding mind, than with a diseased bod\^, yet 
let him be persuaded that the good Physician under- 
stands the cause of his depression. Let him not then 
shrink back from prayer under a sense of unworthiness. 
Let him not say, ^'When I am in this state I caimot 
jpray^ You may, indeed, not be able to engage in 
prayer in the same manner as when in health ; but re- 
member, the Lord does not now desire you to do so, he 
only expects you to pray according to your state. This, 
indeed, is one of the great requisites in prayer. Let ev- 
ery man present himself before the Great High Priest in 
spirit, as did the diseased of every name in the days of 
his flesh. They never thought of approaching him as 
they were not, but as they were. If, then, your prayer 
must be short, let it be special. Lay open your case as 
it really is. Confess all you feel, and all you fear. 
Again and again, do the same. Conceal nothing. The 
Lord loves an open-hearted worshipper. Deplore the 
state of your bodily health, and of your mental constitu- 
tion. He can give you balm for both. Ask, and he 



94 THE CONTRAST. 

will give you a blessing. Return quickly with thanks- 
giving, and you shall obtain another. 

But the desponding Christian may sink still deeper 
into the waters of trouble. He may be heard to say, " I 
find so many hinderances without and within. I cannot 
gain the mastery over my spirit. When I strive to pray, 
evil is present with me. When I would do good to 
others, some unworthy thought or motive suggests itself 
to my mind. I am nothing but sin. I can neither pray, 
nor love, nor glorify God, as I ought." This is a deep 
and painful experience ; but it is also right and good. 
The conclusion is quite correct. The mdividual in him- 
self is nothing but sin. And it is an unspeakable mer- 
cy to be so led of God as to have made the discovery. 
The stirring of the pool does not originate, but only man- 
ifests its corruption. What you now feel is only a bring- 
ing to light that which otherwise you would not have 
believed. It is no new thing. To God it was known 
long before. Even now the Holy One discerns in the 
dark depth of the heart, far more than the most despond- 
ing mind can detect. What then is the intention of the 
good Spirit in opening the eye upon the depravity with- 
in? It is to lead the Christian from self to Christ. We 
are long in the school of the Gospel before we learn our 
fitter nothingness. Doctrinally, perhaps, we knew it 
at the very commencement. But there is a wide differ- 
ence between theoretical and practical knowledge. It is 
easy to say, " I am a sinner, and can do nothing good 
of myself" Even while we so speak, there often lurks 
within us a secret expectation and desire to find some- 
what good in our nature. We trust that after some 
years passed in a religious course, we may perceive such 
an increase of religious feeling as shall preclude wander- 
ing thoughts, unruly desires, coldness of affections, and 
forgetfulness of God. But we forget that the " old man" 



THE CONTRAST. 95 

is so essentially evil that it cannot be made fruitful of 
good : that therefore Scripture speaks of it as " crucified ;" 
and that we cannot get rid of it altogether while we live, 
and can only keep it in check — mortify it. We ought 
to remember that we are but as waste land being brought 
into cultivation by the great Husbandman ; and that it 
is alone by his unceasing care, and regular implanting 
of good seed, that we yield any increase. Leave the 
finest garden alone, it soon becomes a wilderness. Who 
would suppose that in its clean and fruitful beds, lie count- 
less seeds of noxious weeds ? The heart of man is as a 
garden. Should it boast, let the Gardener leave it for a 
time, that it may learn what it is in itself This the all- 
wise God sees it often necessary to do. Then the Chris- 
tian discovers that the seeds of innumerable evils are in 
his heart : and after many years of wholesome culture 
and extended usefulness, he is astonished and grieved to 
find that nothing but sin is its native produce. All good- 
ness in man is implanted. His righteousness is a reflec- 
tion of that of Christ. To be at all pure and bright, we 
must revolve round the great Sun. The moon derives 
her light from the superior orb. In herself she is a dark 
ball. So is the Christian. He is fair through the come- 
hness which Christ puts upon him ; but still he is black 
in his own nature. When he first discovers this, he 
feels confounded and paralyzed. Yet he ought to have 
known and remembered that he was always so. He 
never should have expected to have found it otherwise. 
It is good that he should no longer be self-deceived. His 
eye must be opened to the reality of his natural state, 
that he may be taught to reckon it as " dead," and so 
may never expect from it the living fruits of holiness. 

But how then shall he obtain peace of mind, if he is 
always to retain a consciousness of this sin-seeded heart ? 
He must still further learn the art of extracting comfort 



96 THE CONTRAST. 

and consolation from sound scriptural distinctions Let 
him mark the difference between the " old" and " the 
new man" within him. Both live ; but the one is under 
a continual process of mortification ; the other of vivifi- 
cation. He must cherish the life of the latter, and has- 
ten the dying of the former. This is the condition, the 
work, the warfare, of every Christian on this side of the 
grave. Unless therefore he be able to distinguish the 
'' old man and his deeds," which is to be put off", from 
the " new man and his deeds," which is to be put on, he 
must be often reduced to a state of spiritual perplexity, 
and perhaps despair. But he need not. Let him cease 
to expect any thing good from his old nature, and so 
ii PUT IT OFF," and his perplexity will be at an end. 
Christ is the source of all within him that is good. In 
himself he is only an engrafted stock. Let the orchard 
teach. No man expects the golden fruit from the stock, 
but from the graft. The growth of the latter we cherish 
and protect, all the shoots of the former we destroy. 
The whole tree, then, is a twofold thing, a perfect pic- 
ture of the Christian. Here is both an old nature and a 
new. In the former there is nothing good : we therefore 
describe it, and all that proceeds from it, as radically bad. 
Though the tree were laden with fruit, yet if the stock 
could speak it would say, and say with truth, " In me 
resides nothing that is good." Just so is it with the 
Christian. He separates himself from himself He em- 
ploys the life of the new nature to strive against the 
movements of the old. Overcome, however, at times by 
its stubborn and obstinate attempts, he exclaims from 
the anguish of an inward conflict, that seems tearing 
him asunder, '' Oh wretched man that I am, who shall 
deliver me from this body of death?" Rom. vii. 24, mar- 
gin. Here, then, is the only fountain of his peace and 
comfort, that while thus wretched he can look away from 



THE CONTRAST. 97 

himself to Christ, and thank God for such a Saviour. 
This he does with the greater eagerness and determina- 
tion, because he feels compelled to declare, ^* I know that 
in me, that is in ray flesh, dwelleth no good thing,'' 
verse 18. x4ccordingly, he never expects to derive any 
peace, or strength, or comfort from it ; he never willingly 
allows it to exert itself; he denies his consent to its sug- 
gestions ; he frowns with disapprobation upon all its 
movements; he mourns over every successful sally it 
may make from its prison ; he wills not that it should 
ever think or speak within him ; and is so set against 
this restless foe that he repudiates its every doing, and 
says, " It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in 
me," verses 17 — 20. 

Here, then, is a remarkable and important distinction 
which the Christian learns to make; and while he 
makes it, he ought to be as conscious of the existence of 
the one nature, as of the other. Remember, it is, " if i 
DO THAT I WOULD NOT." There must be two wills, the 
one working against the other. If not — if we consent to 
the " deeds " of the old man, we must refrain altogether 
from this language of the apostle. There must be a de- 
sire, and an endeavour, we say not in what degree ; but 
still there must be an honest, sincere, and continual en- 
deavour against sin, and a cordial desire after conformity 
to the law of God ; otherwise we shall awfully deceive 
our souls, and be guilty of turning the doctrines of truth 
into licenses of sin. In this same scripture, the apostle 
states that he possessed also " a delight in the law of 
God after the inward man," verse 22, and a will intent 
on doing good. If, then, the lukewarm professor of re- 
hgion comfort himself with a partial and perverted view 
of some of the verses of this remarkable chapter, over- 
looking these, he handles the word of God deceitfully, 
turns his grace into licentiousness,; and ruins his own 

9 



98 THE CONTRAST. 

soul. The true Christian does not act after this manner. 
However weak and feeble may be the buddings of the 
new nature within him, he cherishes them with care 
He determines, with the help of God, to struggle against 
every sin that shall be found lurking in his breast. Ha 
resolves, in the strength of the Most High, that he will 
never cease to fight against the law of sin which is in 
his members. And while he is persuaded that the strife 
must continue till death separate the combatants, he ig 
also assured that sin shall not have the dominion. Instead 
therefore of giving up the warfare in despair, at every 
fresh appearance of the old nature, at every renewed 
struggle which it makes, he learns to be more active and 
vigorous, to rely more on the Strong for strength, and to 
keep a more watchful eye, that he may not lose the mas- 
tery, but retain every thought in subjection to the will of 
Christ. 



THE REPROACH. 



, Verse 6. — A reproach of men, and despised of the people. 

These words form a part of the comparison which 
the Saviour had instituted between himself and the 
fathers of old time. In the depth of his own affliction, 
he meditated on their faith, and on their deliverances. 
The success which attended their supplications proved 
that God was the gracious hearer and answerer of prayer. 
But the difference of his experience is painfully trying*. 
He does not enjoy that communion with the Father of 
all to which they were admitted. He appears to be for- 
gotten. His prayers and cries bring no relief The 
longer his trial continues, it increases in severity. No 
mitigation can be obtained from any quarter. Heaven 
is closed against him ; and '• I am," he remarks, " a re- 
proach of men, and despised of the people.*' 

Reproach is a peculiarl}^ painful species of trial, and 
formed a large portion of our Saviour's sorrow. It is a 
keen cutting weapon. Even consciousness of innocence 
cannot altogether prevent the (smarting of its wound. 
Reproach is a many-barbed arrow. It implies reflection, 
censure, disappointment, and contempt, on the part of 
liim who casts it; and supposes deception, hypocrisy, de- 
tection and disgrace, on the part of him who deserves it. 
Christ suffered all this : though perfectly innocent, he 
was treated as if utterly guilty. His tender spirit felt 
that treatment bitterly ; his was no stoic's heart — a hard 
ball of selfishness. From the purity and perfection of 
his nature, our Liord must have had exquisite susceptibil- 



100 THE REPROACH. 

ity and tenderness of feeling. See him at the grave of 
Lazarus. How full of sympathetic emotion ! A philos- 
opher of the world, would have thought only of the stu- 
pendous miracle he was about to accomplish. But not 
so our Lord : when he saw Mary weeping, and the Jews 
also weepingj he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 
The shortest verse of Scripture is the most affecting, 
^^ Jesus wept," John xi. 35. While enduring the daily 
trials of life, and the attendant afflictions of death, his 
knowledge of the glory that should follow, did not ren- 
der him insensible to any of the sufferings that went 
before. Reproach formed a large part of these sufferings. 
Many of our Lord's countrymen vainly expected that 
he would assume the power, and glory, of an earthly 
king. His miracles made them regard him as some 
great one, if not the Messiah. Now, therefore, the bitter- 
ness of their disappointment is proportionably increased. 
Instead of blaming themselves for entertaining hopes 
which he had never sanctioned, they condemned him for 
this inglorious termination of their own presumptuous 
speculations. Of all those who reproached our Lord, it 
is quite consonant to our knowledge of human nature to 
conceive that none would be more forward in this species 
of persecution, than those who had once professed to be 
his disciples. Of these, there was a considerable number. 
The triumphant entrance into the holy city, but a few 
days before, w^ould naturally tend to swell their ranks, 
and strengthen their expectations. The active part 
which many of the citizens took in that affair must have 
made them marked men to the chief priests and rulers. 
Conscious of this fact, they would now take care to make 
themselves conspicuous as his revilers. With cordial ill- 
will, with blasted hopes, with love turned to gall, would 
they assail him, on every possible opportunity. We can 
imagine them waiting till he should issue from the Hall 



THE REPROACH. 101 

of Judgment, and then pouncing on their victim with 
envenomed tongues. As infuriated sAvarms pursue, and 
hover round, the object of their hatred, each eager to in- 
flict a sting ; so with bitter words and angry gesticula- 
tions, would these attend his progress to the cross. Im- 
patient of his feeble steps, they would urge him forward, 
justling, pushing, buffeting — some before, some behind, 
many on both sides, would pour their malicious impreca- 
tions upon his head. His grieved ear might recognize a 
voice which formerly craved his blessing ; his meek eye 
might meet the countenance of a former friend turned 
into fury. A menacing hand which he had once healed, 
might now be held up against him ; and ever and anon 
as he advanced, one fresh upbraider after another might 
step up to his side, and screech reproachfully in his face. 
But when all were collected together on Mount Calvary, 
when they beheld him raised on high between the two 
thieves, then, in one torrent of abuse, would they give vent 
to their reproaches, " Thou art the man that deceived us. 
Thou calledst thyself the Christ. Now have we found 
thee out ; thy miracles were done in league with Beel- 
zebub ; thy fair speeches and holy words were all hy- 
pocrisy ; God has not suffered thee to escape ; thou ba- 
dest us believe in thee ; thou saidst thou wert come from 
heaven, and wouldst take us thither. Now thou art 
where thou shouldst be, crucified with thieves, and viler 
than they." 

This shameful conduct was not confined to the low 
rabble ; to coarse and vulgar men, habituated to intem- 
perate language. The narrative of the Gospel informs 
us that the rulers and chief priests, forgetting the dignity 
of their station, joined with the mocking multitude ; "And 
the rulers also with them derided him," Luke xxiii. 35. 
Here were men of polite and varied attainments, superior 
in rank and fortune, bearing office in the spiritual and 

9* 



102 THE REPROACH. 

civil government of the holy city — scribes, and pharisees, 
and elders of the Sanhedrim, congregated at a public 
execution, and not only sanctioning the slanderous mul- 
titude, but themselves acting as tormentors to the dying. 
They despised the Nazarene, as they called him ; they 
disdained his ignoble parentage, and humble occupation 
as a carpenter ; they repudiated him as the associate of 
mean and vulgar persons, nay, of publicans and harlots. 
They scouted him as an impostor of the vilest descrip- 
tion ; a profane and impious individual, who encouraged 
the people to break the sabbath, and despise the holy 
law. Every thing that was evil, detestable, and damna- 
tory, in their eyes, seemed to meet in the person of this 
crucified criminal. They deemed him a traitor to his 
country, by seeking to make himself a king, refusing to 
pay tribute to Caesar, and so attempting to involve Judea 
in the horrors of a civil war. As a worker of miracles, 
they recognized him only as a dealer with evil spirits, 
a magician of superior art of conjuration, an agent of 
hell in league with Beelzebub. And lastly, they reviled 
him as a blasted being, whom Divine Providence would 
not suffer to live, because of his atrocious blasphemies, 
in making himself equal with God. 

Such was the light in which they regarded the cruci- 
fied Jesus. Obstinately refusing to examine the creden- 
tials of his commission, they perverted every fact and 
argument that seemed favourable to his cause, wilfully 
closing their eyes against the light of truth. And here 
we behold them giving utterance to all the contempt, 
hatred, and malice, with which their breasts were filled. 

Bitter, indeed, was this ingredient of Christ's cup. In 
the sixty-ninth psalm, which bears a close resemblance 
to the twenty-second, reproach is the principal sorrow 
enumerated of our Lord's many sufferings. See verses 
7, 12, 19, 20, 26. Five words in the 20th verse, express 



THE KEPUOACH. 103 

all that can be said as to the wickedness perpetrated, and 
its efl'ects on the innocent victim. *^ Rkproach hath 
BROKEN MY HEART." It was SO brok'cn, that he could 
not answer. He endured the contradiction of sinners 
against himself. It is a hard task to continue silent 
when we arc wronirfully accused ! To refrain for any 
length of time from retort or expostulation, when re- 
proached, is n)ore than any mere man is able to accom- 
plish. But our Lord was perfect in patience. He has 
recourse to God, to whom alone he unfolds his grief, and 
unburdens liis breaking heart. Nor does he pray for the 
silencing of this reproach as regards himself, but ear- 
nestly deprecates its eflect upon his disciples. Hear how 
he implores his Fathers interposition on their behalf, 
"Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, 
be ashamed for my sake : let not those that seek thee 
be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Because 
for thy sake I have borne reproach ; shame hath covered 
my face," Psa. Ixix. 6, 7. 

Christ was accustomed to reproach. It w^as his daily 
portion at home and abroad — in the village and in the 
city — with relatives and amongst strangers. When liv- 
ing in the quiet retirement of domestic life, his brethren, 
his near relatives, said to him, " Depart hence, and go 
into Judea, that thy disciples may see the works that 
thou doest. For there is no man that doeth any thing 
in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. 
If thou do these things, show thyself to the world," John 
vii. 3, 4. To their reproachful insinuations, Christ ut- 
tered not an angry word. When, at another time, he 
was sleeping, during a storm, in the hinder part of the 
ship, his disciples awoke him with this reproach, " Mas- 
ter, carest thou not that we perish ?" Mark iv. 38. The 
great meekness of the Saviour rendered him peculiarly 



104 THE REPROACH. 

liable to suffer from the rudeness, impatience, and inso- 
lence, of all who saw him. 

This characteristic suffering of our blessed Master 
must be experienced, more or less, by all those " that 
will live godly in Christ Jesus," 2 Tim. iii. 12. If we 
be faithful to our duty as Christians ; if we follow our 
Lord's example, and " testify to the world that its works 
are evil," John vii. 7, we shall certainly be partakers of 
our Master's ignominy. It has been so from the begin- 
ning. Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater 
riches than all the treasures of Egypt, Heb xi. 26. The 
apostle Paul declares of himself, " I take pleasure in re- 
proaches for Christ's sake," 2 Cor. xii. 10. Our Lord 
kindly forewarns us to expect, and most graciously en- 
courages us to bear, this painful trial, saying, ''Blessed 
are ye, when men shall reproach you, and cast out your 
name as evil for the Son of Man's sake," Luke vi. 22. 
And Peter, as if remembering the words which the great 
Teacher had uttered, writes thus, " If ye be reproached 
for the name of Christ, happy are ye ; for the Spirit of 
glory and of God resteth upon you ; on their part he 
is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified," 
1 Peter iv. 14. Surely then, when we consider the 
height of glory to which we shall be exalted, and this 
depth of sorrow, in which our gracious Surety was im- 
mersed on our account, we shall not shrink back from 
an open confession of our gratitude and obligation to him 
and shall willingly conclude with the apostle, " Let us 
go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing 
his reproach," Heb. xiii. 13. 

Consider, O Christian, what the Saviour's reproaches 
were. There is not an indignity that can be named, 
which was not made a matter of wilful misrepresenta- 
tion against the Lord of glory. Even the most inno- 
cent, and inconsiderable, things were made subjects of 



THE REPROACH. 105 

bitter and vilifying observation. "Is not this the car- 
penter's son? — how knoweth this man letters? — can 
any good thing come out of Nazareth? — Thou art a 
Samaritan ! — this fellow casts out devils by the prince 
of the devils ; — this man is a sinner ; he is a sabbath- 
breaker ; he deceiveth the people ; he blasphemeth ; he 
is a friend of pubhcans and harlots ; he is a gluttonous 
man and a wine-bibber ; he hath a devil, and is mad." 

Such were some of the reproaches that were heaped 
upon our meek and holy Lord while he hved, and doubt- 
less none of them were forgotten or softened by his ene- 
mies when he was dying. Through the goodness of His 
providence, we are at present exempted from open perse- 
cution in our beloved land. There is no cross of nails 
and wood erected now for the Christian, but there is one 
of words and looks which is never taken down. It is 
the will of God that we should be " freed from sin," and 
be " made perfect" through sufferings. Were there no 
cross, there should be no crown. Our nature must be 
purged. We never know ourselves till we are tried ; 
consequently, we cannot fight against our besetting sins 
till we be made acquainted with them. Self must be 
crucified ; but instead of enduring the trial with reluc- 
tance, and with many efforts to escape, the Christian 
should go through it willingly, and esteem it an honour 
to become a partaker of his Master's sufferings. The 
apostle Paul strove as for a crown, to attain to the fellow- 
ship of Christ's sufferings, Phil. iii. 10. He counted it 
his highest earthly honour ; he regarded it as a pledge 
of eternal glory. Endeavouring constantly to avoid 
every appearance of evil, as did our Master, we shall yet 
find, Uke him, that our words and actions are subjected 
to the most unexpected misconstructions. The world 
does not understand the principles on which the Chris- 
tian acts, and must therefore interpret all he does accord- 



106 THE REPROACH. 

ing to those by which it is itself actuated. The Chris- 
tian, therefore, when tried by any sore and bitter reproach, 
should consider it in a fourfold respect. First, in regard 
to the reproach itself; it is only words — sounds that 
vanish in the air as soon as they are uttered. Secondly, 
in regard to those who vilify and misrepresent him ; 
that it may be from no personal malice, but the unavoid- 
able result ot the application of their own worldly prin- 
ciples ; that therefore they are to be pitied, and even if 
evidently malicious, are to be prayed for and forgiven. 
Thirdly, in regard to himself ; that it can do him no 
harm, but much good, if he bear it patiently. And last- 
ly, in regard to his God and Saviour ; that it is a 
token of his love, a proof of his own discipleship, and a 
pledge of future honour and glory. 

Let him consider also what infamy and dishonour 
the men of this world willingly endure for the sake of 
sinful pleasures, and mere temporary profit. Shall the 
servant of God, then, be outdone in zeal by the servants 
of Satan ? They care not for the disgrace if they only 
attain their end. They calculate loss of character by 
the gain it brings, and the happiness by which it is 
counterbalanced. If they w4n, they smile, and care not 
who despise. When, then, the Christian thus witnesses 
the power of an evil principle, shall he not be ambitious 
to exhibit the superior energy of those that are heavenly 
and eternal? He knows, too, that however much he 
may be reviled by others, no one has so much reason to 
despise him, as he has himself. Lying low, therefore, in 
his own estimation, and humbhng himself in secret to 
the very depths, he should put it out of the power of the 
most slanderous enemy, either to sink him lower in his 
own opinion than he has already cast himself, or to ac* 
cuse him of a single wrong done to a fellow-creature. 

Therefore let the Christian in this trial, as in every 



THE REPROACH. 107 

other, earnestly pray for the supply of the Spirit of grace. 
Without His indwelling and sustaining power, we al- 
ways fail — we cannot but fail. To be despised and re- 
proached, will naturally, and immediately, excite sinful 
resistance, anger, and perhaps retahation. But with the 
inworking aid of the Holy Spirit, the Christian will be 
enabled to exhibit oatience. meekness, and gentleness ; 
ana to return Kmdness for their malice, love for their 
hatred, and prayers for their reproaches. 



THE MOCKERY. 



Verse 7. — All they that see vie laugh me to scorn: they 
shoot out the Up, they shake the head^ saying — 

During the three hours in which our Lord hung on 
the cross, previous to the commencement of the dark- 
ness, he observed the conduct of the assembled multi- 
tude. 

The behaviour of the unfeeling crowds who press to 
witness an execution is nearly the same in all countries, 
and in all ages. In our own Christian land, there are not 
wanting disgraceful scenes of tumultuous acclamation, 
when a miserable fellow-creature is being launched into 
eternity. The hiss, tJie scorn, the laugh, the execrations, 
mark not only their indignant feelings at his wickedness, 
but also their own destitution of that nobleness of pity, 
and solemnity of heart, which should characterize every 
rational being at such a moment. But man is a fallen, 
selfish being — '* commixture strange of good and evil." 
Prejudice and passion obliterate the stirrings of human- 
ity, and convert us into fiends. What else is a mocker 
at calamity ? God has no pleasure in the sorrows of his 
creatures. The malignity of Satan finds congenial food 
in the most painful torments. But surely man joins in 
Satan's laugh, only when he has Satan's spirit. 

How bitter is the laugh of scorn ! How cruel is dis- 
dain and mockery ! Jesus was here tried to the utmost. 
All that men could do in this way was done. The wo- 
men joined the scornful men. The rich took part with 
the poor. The chief priests demeaned themselves to a 



THE MOCKERY. 109 

level with the lowest of the crowd. Forgetting self- 
respect, and even decency of manners, every thing was 
sacrificed to the gratification of reviling Christ. Saving 
in the little band of true disciples, there was exhibited 
one universal mockery over this congregated mass of 
human beings. The smile of contempt, the jeer of ridi- 
cule, the loud laugh of derision, were all employed 
against the Lord. Instead of sympathizing in his sor» 
row, they were rejoicing and exulting over his distress. 
^' All they that see me laugh me to scorn." Here there 
was no mistake. A dejected spirit is apt to imagine 
evils. But Jesus had experienced this treatment, too 
frequently before, to misunderstand it now. When he 
entered the chamber of death, and comforted Jairus, it 
is said of the people in the room, that " they laughed 
him to scorn," Matt. ix. 24. It was needful that the 
Redeemer should be tried in every possible Avay ; that 
he should be ^^ tempted in all points like as w^e are.*' 
This w^as doubly necessary. First, that he should be 
proved to be " yet without sin ;" and, Secondly, that 
he should thus be able from his own experience to sym- 
pathize fully in the sorrows of his people. 

Ridicule is at all times bad — to all persons painful — 
and from any individual rude and disgraceful. We dis- 
honour ourselves by employing it. At best it is a puni- 
tive weapon, never a healing medicine. If it banish an 
offence from the manner, it sinks one deeper into the 
heart. Of all retaliative weapons, it seems most like 
that which an evil spirit would put into our hands. It 
defends self, and wounds an opponent, but never does 
real good to either. The satirist is dreaded, but not 
loved. We smile at his pictures of others, but we recoil 
from his company. Yet the smile is sinful, which at- 
tends a sinful deed. Did we love our neighbour, as we 
love ourselves, we should as sorely feel, and certainly re- 

10 



110 THE MOCKERY. 

prove, the ridicule that injures him, as we do that which 
is directed against ourselves. So would Jesus have felt. 
He never listened to a backbiter, or a satirist. The first 
attempt would have called forth his disapprobation. Yet 
he here endured it in his own person without murmur or 
complaint. He heard all that the company of mockers 
could say against him. It is written of the persecuted 
saints, and may be especially affirmed of the Saviour, 
'' He had trial of cruel mockings." Nor were his revil- 
ers contented with opprobrious epithets. Their malevo- 
lence was too great to find vent only in words. Signs 
and gestures, movements and gesticulations, must in- 
crease its emphasis, and assist its utterance. The evan- 
gelists give us a full account of their shameful doings. 
Matthew says, " They that passed by reviled him, wag- 
ging their heads." Mark adds, '^Likewise the chief 
priests, mocking, said among themselves with the scribes, 
He saved others, himself he cannot save.*' Mark xv. 31. 
Luke informs us that " the soldiers also mocked him, 
coming to him and offering him vinegar," Luke xxiii. 36. 
Mockery accompanied the Saviour from the garden of 
Gethsemane till he expired on Calvary. Judas set the 
example with his insidious kiss. The men that appre- 
hended him mocked him. The officers at the several 
courts mocked him. The chief priests, scribes, and 
pharisees, mocked him. The high priest himself, Caia- 
phas, mocked him. The servants of his house, and 
others, surrounded the Saviour, and mocked him. They 
smote him with their staves, and with the palms of their 
hands — they did spit in his face — they plucked off* the 
hair — they blindfolded him; then they did buffet him 
with their fists, and said, " Prophesy unto us, thou Christ, 
who is he that smote thee?" Matt. xxvi. 68. Herod 
and his men of war mocked him, and set him at nought 
— arraying him in a gorgeous robe, they sent him away 



THE MOCKERY. Ill 

as a laughing stock to whence he was brought. Pilate 
regarded him as a weak, inoffensive creature, and jest- 
ingly asked him, " What is truth ?" — brought him forth, 
saying, " Behold the man" — and sent him to crucifixion 
with this mock title, " The King of the Jews." The 
Roman soldiers mocked him with a most perfect mock- 
ery. They acted it to the very life. They procured a 
crown — it was of thorns ; royal garments — they were a 
cast-off purple vest, and a scarlet robe ; a sceptre — it was 
a reed. They paid him homage as a king — it was 
mock-kneehng, laughter, and derision ; they lavished 
their honours upon him — their salutation was a scoff, 
" Hail ! king of the Jews !" their gifts were not gold, but 
strokes — not frankincense, but spitting — not myrrh, but 
mockery. When he was led away to Golgotha, a mock- 
ing multitude followed him. His feeble frame, his totter- 
ing steps, his ghastly visage, were subjects of entertain- 
ment, ridicule, and biting sarcasm, to his enemies. 
Doubtless, his friends shared this ignominy. The weep- 
ing of the women would be mocked, their wailings de- 
rided, their gestures of grief pointed at with laughter. 

All this too was perfectly gratuitous. The ceremonies 
of judgment had some show of necessity — the scourging, 
and the crucifixion, were ordered by the officers of jus- 
tice. But to make mirth and mockery over a fellow- 
creature's sufferings, Vv^as the most wanton piece of cruelty 
that has ever been heard of It was altogether without 
the least pretence of reason. The gratification of their 
own cruel and malicious propensities — the indulgence of 
their hatred, and spiteful feelings — and their mad desire 
to render Christ as miserable as it was possible to make 
him, were their only stimulants. Therefore they hurry 
him forward to Calvary, that they may set him up as their 
mark — a spectacle to the whole nation that abhors him, 
Isa. xlix. 7. There every species of mockery that can 



112 THE MOCKERY, 

be tliought of, is employed. They wag the head, shoot 
out the Hp, make wide the mouth, draw out the tongue, 
wink with the eye, point with the finger, utter the jest, 
break forth with laughter, and jeer at him with the bit- 
terest scorn. 

Imagine this dreadful scene. Behold this motley mul- 
titude of rich and poor, of Jews and Gentiles. Some 
stand in groups and gaze. Some recUne at ease and 
stare. Otliers move about in restless gratification at 
the event. There is a look of satisfaction on every 
countenance. None are silent. The velocity of speech 
seems tardy. The theme is far too great for one mem- 
ber to utter. Every lip, and head, and finger, is now a 
tongue. The rough soldiers, too, are busied in their 
coarse way. The work of blood is over. Refreshment 
has become necessary. Their usual beverage of vine- 
gar and water, is supplied to them. As they severally 
are satisfied, the}^ approach the cross, hold some forth to 
the Saviour, and bid him drink as they withdraw it. 
They know he must be suffering an intense thirst, there- 
fore they aggravate it with this mockery of refresh 
ment. Cruel Romans ! and ye, O regicidal Jews ! was 
not death enough ? Must mockery and scorn be added ? 
On this sad day Christ made you one indeed ! Dread- 
ful unity ! which constitutes you joint mockers and mur- 
derers of the Lord of glory ! 

Contemplating this scene with feelings of indignation, 
the Christian may be tempted to say, " Had I been there, 
I would not have joined this mocking multitude." Boast 
not so. Hadst thou been there, thou wouldst, without 
God's grace, have taken part with that cruel crowd. Say, 
hast thou done nothing to offend thy Master since last 
year ? If conscience tell thee, thou hast often grieved 
him, now that he is in heaven, let calm reflection con- 
vince thee, that without restraining grace, thou also 



THE MOCKERY. 113 

wouldst have mocked him in his sorrow upon the cross. 
All Jews and Gentiles are alike. Both classes equally 
need the Spirit of God. '^ xls in water face answereth 
to face, so doth the heart of man to man." What others 
did, we would, without sustaining grace, do also. Let 
us remember Peter, and be humble. The hour of trial 
proves how weak the very strongest are in themselves. 
Every Christian knows by experience, that he has not 
in every company, and on all occasions, acted and spo- 
ken as a valiant and faithful soldier of the cross. Re- 
membering, therefore, how difficult it is, and how impos- 
sible in yourself, to stand, even for an hour, against the 
example of those around you ; thank God, O Christian, 
that thy sins were there that day, and not thy person ; 
lest, being ashamed to join a few weeping women, thou 
shouldst have been led away with the multitude to do 
evil, and been found with eye, and head, and finger, 
mocking the meek and suffering Saviour of the world ! 

10* 



THE TAUNT. 



Verse 8. — He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him : 
let Mm deliver him^ seeing he delighted in him . 

Here are recorded some of the words, in which the 
scorn and mockery of our Lord's persecutors were embod- 
ied. How remarkable to find them in a psalm written 
so many hundred years before ! We should be at a loss 
how to explain the fact, did not the apostle Peter inform 
us that " holy men of old spake as they were moved by 
the Holy Ghost ;" and •' that the Spirit of Christ which 
was in them did testify beforehand the sufferings of Christ, 
and the glory that should follow," 1 Pet. i. 11. The 
comparison, then, of this and of similar passages of the 
Old Testament with the accounts given in the New, 
affords abundant proofs that it is so of a truth, and en- 
ables us triumphantly to conclude, " Surely these books 
were written by none other than the finger of the living 
God." 

How exactly is this prophecy from the mouth of Da- 
vid, fulfilled by the crucifiers of our Saviour ! Matthew 
informs us in the 27th chapter, verses 39 — 44, "And 
they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads 
and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and build- 
est it in three days, save thyself If thou be the Son of 
God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the 
chief priests, mocking him, with the scribes and elders, 
said. He saved others : himself he cannot save. If he 
be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the 
cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God : let 



THE TAUNT. 115 

bim deliver-him now, if he will have him : for he said, 
I am the Son of God. The thieves also, which w^ere 
crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth." 

The taunts here enumerated, are bitter and cruel in 
the extreme. It is a five-pointed dart with which our 
Lord is pierced. First, '• Thou that destroyest the tem- 
ple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself." Second, 
^* If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross." 
Third, " He saved others ; himself he cannot save." 
Fourth, " If he be the King of Israel, let him come down 
from the cross, and we will believe him." Fifth, " He 
trusted in God : let him deliver him, if he will have 
him." 

To human nature it is always a severe mortification, 
to be exposed to this species of trial. Grievous indeed is 
it to have our words distorted to falsehood, converted into 
jest, retorted against ourselves, and blazed abroad to our 
discredit. Christ was now enduring this fourfold con- 
tradiction. Those very words by which he sought to 
save their souls, were now repeated only to ruin his own 
cause. Those kind and healing miracles which he 
wrought for others, were now mentioned to show, by 
striking contrast, his own utter weakness. That confi- 
dence which he had always exhibited in the Divine love 
and providential care, were now alluded to only to prove 
that God would never acknowledge him. And that al- 
mighty power which he had exhibited, was now chal- 
lenged to give one other proof of its existence, that all 
his enemies might be immediately convinced and con- 
verted. 

This was a cruel dilemma to invent. Either Christ 
must now give them the proof required, or else that 
cause, which was dearer to him than life, must receive 
its apparent death-blow. The alternative, too, which 
they presented was of a tempting nature. The chief 



116 THE TAUNT. 

priests, the rulers, the whole assembled multitude, were 
ready to acknowledge him to be the Messiah. By de- 
scending from the cross, all those who had come up to 
worship at Jerusalem would be converted, they would 
carry the account to the remotest corners, and all the 
Jewish people would embrace the Christian faith. When, 
too, our Lord could so truly say to himself, '' I am the 
Son of God ; I am the king of Israel ; I am beloved of 
my Father ; I do possess power to leave this cross ;" this 
must, humanly speaking, have seemed the right moment 
to prove it, and have formed a strong temptation to ex- 
ert it. To convert so many souls by a single act, might 
seem to man a sufficient reason for its performance, and 
to imply that it would be wrong to withhold it. We say, 
this must have proved a strong and overpowering temp- 
tation to mere human nature. And had Christ been only 
a man, as the Socinians blasphemously assert, he must 
have yielded to its influence. It is impossible to conceive 
how a mere man could have resisted such an appeal for 
the accomplishment of that very object for w^hich he 
was now suffering, and by which those sufferings would 
be no longer necessary. But Christ, being God, and 
" not needing that any should testify of man," John ii. 25, 
knew that even this great miracle could have no saving 
effect upon their minds. He had declared before to his 
disciples, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, 
neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the 
dead," Luke xvi. 31. So hard and unimpressible by 
eternal things is the natural heart ! But had even this 
great multitude been thus brought over to the new reli- 
gion, how could that law be satisfied which demanded 
life for sin ? Unless Christ had died, he could neither 
have overcome death, nor him that had the power of it, 
Heb. ii. 14. That atonement also, which he came to 
accomplish, must have remained incomplete. No ac- 



THE TAUNT. 117 

ceptance, consequently, with the Judge, could ha\^e been 
found for the Surety, nor any acquittance for the debtors ; 
and we should have remained outcasts from Paradise — 
temporary tenants of a sin-bound world, but eternal oc- 
cupants of that place, whence light and bliss are for ever 
fled. But, blessed be God, the faith and hope of the 
Christian hang notj like those of the Socinian, on a fal- 
lible creature. He who was taunted on the mount of 
Calvary was the only wise God our Saviour, 
Jude 25. He knew how inconclusive were the reason- 
ings of his enemies, how insidious their professions, and 
how utterly vain the greatest miracle to eflfect their con- 
version. 

Our great Redeemer instantly repelled the temptations 
presented to his mind in these five taunts, but did not 
put aside the pain and suffering which they occasioned. 
Doubtless, there was a vast variety of reproachful epi- 
thets and accusations used on this occasion which are 
not recorded in the Gospels. But these are sufficient, as 
specimens, to show with what wanton cruelty our Lord 
was treated ; and we can easily conceive, that of all the 
various taunts, none entered deeper than the last, into his 
human soul. It stings to the quick to be taunted with 
the futility of our confidence in God. Indeed, the Holy 
Spirit seems to have marked this as the most painful of 
all our Lord's reproaches, by causing it to be specially 
recorded in this prophetic psalm, "He trusted on the 
Lord that he would deliver him : let him deHver him, 
seeing he delighted in him." Little remembering thai 
these words were prophesied in reference to the Mes- 
siah, the malicious revilers on Mount Calvary em- 
ployed them to torment their victim : " He trusted 
in God," say they, " let him deliver him now if he 
will have him." This taunt is intended to insinuate, 
first, that the crucified Jesus did not trust in God ; 



118 THE TAUNT. 

secondly, that he had pretended to do so ; thirdly, that 
if he trusted at all, it was of no avail ; and fourthly, 
that God had quite cast him off, and would never ac- 
knowledge him. Such was the fiery dart with which men 
and devils assaulted our blessed Lord ! To every true 
Christian, trust in God is as the apple of the eye. To 
Christ, it was his life, his all. To be tried here, there- 
fore, was the sorest stroke of all. And we must remem- 
ber, that while men were loudly vociferating this temp- 
tation in our Lord's ear, Satan and his legions were busily 
engaged in assaulting him with it, directly and imme- 
diately, upon his spirit. When Christ condescended to 
become a man, he made " trust in God" his refuge and 
strong tower. The Old Serpent knew this. By under- 
miniag the confidence of the first Adam in the Creator, 
he had procured his ruin, and obtained possession of the 
world. Now, therefore, he endeavoured, the more ear- 
nestly, to weaken this stronghold in the heart of the 
second Adam, that he might retain his dominion, and 
add a new trophy to his crown. He must also have 
been aware that this was the last, the decisive, conflict. 
He was now fighting for victory or death ; his all was 
staked on one blow. While, therefore, his human allies 
assaulted the Redeemer's body, he assailed his soul. 
The grand point of attack was incessantly attempted ; 
and nothing was left undone in order to shake the sta- 
bility of Christ's reliance upon God. The moment chosen 
for this combined effort was the most appropriate that 
had ever occurred in the history of Christ. It is impor- 
tant to mark this. Satan is a subtle foe, a skilful leader ; 
he selects choice temptations, and suitable seasons. 
C^irist was now forsaken by his Father ; that blissful 
presence in which he had always lived was now with- 
drawn. This, then, is the moment to tempt him to 
think that it is useless to confide in Jehovah any longer. 



THE TAUNT. 119 

Instantly the spirits of evil press this temptation upon 
our Lord with inconceivable rapidity, variety, and power. 
The prince of this world came thus to Jesus, but found 
" NOTHING IN HIM," Johu xiv. 30. Not a thought, nor 
a feeling, nor the slightest inclination or desire, could the 
spiritual adversary excite in him to suit his purpose. All 
was truth and loyalty to God. Even in that dark hour 
of his desertion, Christ swerved not from allegiance 
of heart, nor did the shghtest shade of doubt rise within 
his breast. Men might declare, and spirits of darkness 
insinuate, that God had forsaken him, and would never 
turn to him again, but the heart of the true Son repelled 
all their suggestions against his Father. He knew as 
well as they did, that God had forsaken him. Nay, 
more, he felt it — in his inmost soul he deplored it. But 
to that part of the temptation he could reply, '' The Lord 
is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his acts. I 
bow to his unerring wisdom. I know there must be 
good reasons for his withdrawal." But to the second 
part of the temptation, that God would never acknowl- 
edge him again, Christ would not give way for a moment. 
The other was a matter of fact ; this was a lie, and a 
libel on the character of the Most High. His word had 
declared that those who trusted in him should never be 
confounded. Though every appearance, therefore, w^as 
against the promises of God, yet would Christ reject ap- 
pearances, and cling to the promises. 

Imitate this example of the great Master. In the 
severest conflicts, stay yourself upon the faithfulness of 
that God who performs all his promises. Never let go 
your confidence : ^' it has great recompense of reward," 
Heb. X. 35. Whatever distress and darkness you expe- 
rience for the present, whatever fiery darts are shot into 
your thoughts, by the adversary, still say, " Why art thou 
cast down, O my soul, and why art thou disquieted in 



120 THE TAUNT. 

me ? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him for 
the help of his countenance," Psa. xlii. 5. 

When you witness others tried as to their trust in God, 
flee to their help. It is a sore and dangerous temptation. 
Had you beheld your Lord taunted, you would have re- 
pelled the insinuations. Do so now in the members of 
his body. ^^ Strengthen the weak, confirm the feeble, 
say to them that are of a fearful heart. Be strong, fear 
not, God will come and save you," Isa. xxxv. 3, 4. Dis- 
countenance all taunting language, it is a whisper from 
beneath. '^ God upbraideth not," James i. 5 



THE APPEAL. 



Verses 9, 10. — But thou art he that took Tiie out of the womb: 
thou didst make me hope, when I was upon my mother^s 
breasts. I was cast upon thee from the womb : thou art my 
God from my mother^ s belly. 

The bitter severity of all the taunts with which his 
enemies assail hira, has no other effect than to lead the 
Saviour to make a direct appeal to his Father, to that 
very God who was hiding his face from him ; and who 
was represented as refusing to acknowledge him. That 
appeal is set before us in these two verses. It is one of 
an unusualj and remarkable, nature. The argument 
on which it is founded is most forcible and conclusive. 
At the same time it is the most seasonable and appropri- 
ate that can be urged. We may thus paraphrase it, " I 
am now brought as a man to my last extremity. It is 
said that God disowns me ; but it cannot be so. My 
first moment of existence he tenderly cared for. When 
I could not even ask for, or think of, his kindness, he 
bestowed it upon me. If, of his mere good pleasure, he 
brought me into life at first, he will surely not forsake 
me when I am departing out of it. In opposition, there- 
fore, to all their taunts, I can and will appeal to himself. 
Mine enemies declare, O God, that thou hast cast me off 
—but thou art he that took me out of the womb. 
They affirm that I do not, and need not, trust in thee ; 
but thou didst make me hope, (or, keptest vie in safe- 
/y, margin,) whe7i I was upon my mother^s breasts. 
They insinuate that thou wilt not acknowledge me as 

11 



122 THE APPEAL. 

thy Son ; but / was cast upon thee from the wo?nb ; 
thou art my God from my m^othefs belly P 

How closely pressed must our blessed Lord have been, 
that he should thus fetch his argument from far. A 
mind intent upon its object brings forward strong and 
unexpected reasons. None but invincible and funda- 
mental arguments will stand in such a crisis. Yet it is 
open to an immediate objection, and nothing but the so- 
lidity of truth can stand the shock of this ready reply — ■ 
'' Every human being may say the same. What has 
been done for thee more than is daily accomplished for 
thousands of infants ? Many of these experience even 
greater providential deliverances." To a mere man, and 
to weak faith, such a reply is staggering and confound- 
ing. The answ^er is obviously too just and reasonable 
not to silence and strike us dumb. It requires a scrip- 
turally enlightened mind, and a strong confidence, first, 
in the motives, and secondly in the promises, of the be- 
neficent Creator to stand against it. These motives and 
promises, too, must be known to be good and gracious, 
otherwise who can confide in them \ Blessed Bible, 
w^hich communicates to us the otherwise unknown mind 
and will of the Great Supreme ! In thy consoling pages 
the promise is written, " Hearken unto me, O house of 
Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, w^hich 
are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from 
the womb. Even to your old age I am he ; and even 
to hoar hairs will I carry you : I have made, and I will 
bear ; even I will carry, and will deliver you," Isa. xlvi. 
3, 4. Jesus as a human scholar, had read that Scrip- 
ture. His own Spirit had inspired it. He here shows 
how well he can remember, and apply, the argument 
which it furnishes. 

What an all-sustaining declaration, " I have made, 
AND I WILL bear." It fouuds a promise, on an indis- 



THE APPEAL. 123 

pntable, self-evident fact. ^^ Thou art a living being. 
God made thee such. If he were willing to make thee, 
he will not be wiUing to forsake thee." Such is the ar- 
gument. It leads us from self to God. His motive in 
creating was his own glory. The good pleasure of his 
will brought us into existence. On what simple, but 
scriptural, and invincible premises, therefore, do we rest 
our supplications in that beautiful prayer, " O merciful 
God, that hast made all men, and hatest nothing that 
thou hast made, nor wouldest the death of a sinner, but 
rather that he should be converted and live, have mercy." 
How astonishing, and reviving, to find that our Lord 
employs the same argument with his heavenly Father. 
He goes back to the helplessness of infancy. He seems, 
as it were, to concede the point to his opposers. " I am," 
he admits, '• hanging on this cross in all helplessness. I 
appear not to have any power to deliver myself, or any 
interest with God to do so for me. But I once hung in 
as helpless a condition. When an infant on my mo- 
ther's breast, when carried into Egypt, an unseen arm 
protected me ; and as I saw it not, nor consciously felt 
it then, so will I believe it still upholds me, though I see 
it not, nor feel it now." 

The force, rather the benefit, of this argument, as of 
every other, lies in its use and application. The prom- 
ises are made to faith ; that is, given to be believed, and 
urged, and made use of. A promissory note gives neither 
food nor raiment while it lies in the desk only as a writ- 
ten document ; but when it is regarded as good as gold, 
and is applied to use, its value instantly appears ; its 
benefits are enjoyed. God's promises, and first acts, of 
care and kindness, ought all to be thus turned to good 
account. He desires they should. It is our sin, our 
source of weakness and temptations, that we do not. 
See how it is employed in Scripture to comfort and sus- 



124 THE APPEAL. 

tain the soul. Jer. i. 5 ; Gal. i. 15 ; Isa. xlix. 1 ; Psa. 
Ixxi. 6 ; Psa. cxxxix. 15. 

What a blessed refuge to the creature, to be allowed 
to go back upon its Creator. How good for the soul to 
be driven from one experience to another ; to be brought 
down to the babyhood of being, that, finding utter no- 
thingness, it may be forced at last to cast itself entirely 
upon God ! Fallen man naturally regards God only as 
the last resource, when he can do nothing better. As 
leaving him, was the first evil committed, so returning 
to him is the last thing attended to. " My people have 
committed two evils," (first) ^Hhey have forsaken me, the 
fountain of living waters ;" and (secondly) " they have 
hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold 
no water," Jeremiah ii. 13. The disappointed hewer, 
sighing over his broken cistern, thinks only of making 
another. That he ought to return to the full fountain, 
does not so readily occur to his mind, as that he must 
be more careful to construct another that will not so 
easily break. This figuratively, but truly, represents 
the conduct of all unrenewed men. When one child 
dies, they console themselves that others remain. When 
friends depart, they retain the hope that they shall ac- 
quire more. When one object of dehght satiates, they 
endeavour to invent another, and often fly the whole 
round of pleasure in pursuit of that contented satisfac- 
tion which shall have nothing farther to desire. This 
they never find : yet onward they haste, and never think 
of the well-spring of peace and joy. Nor will they. Till 
the Spirit of the Lord instruct them, and lead them to 
the Most High, none at all will regard him. Alas ! even 
in those who have been born again of that great Quick- 
ener, how much more proneness is there to the way of 
nature, than to that of grace ! If our trials increase, how 
much more ready are we to seek the consolations of oui 



THE APPEAL. 125 

fellow Christians than of God himself ! Whenever our 
prayers fail to yield us relief, we are more anxious to ob- 
tain the kind supplications of a friend, than the interces- 
sion of the appointed Advocate above ! We wish to 
abound with comfort and peace, and oftener seek them 
from our own pleasant frames, and past experiences, than 
from the undeceiving and infallible assurance of God's 
promise. When closely pressed with temptations to 
melancholy, when doubts and despondency prevail, how 
prone are we to grope in the dark chambers of our own 
hearts, searching for evidences, the existence, nature, 
and uses of which, nothing but the light of God's Spirit 
can enable us to discern. What an increase of evil 
arises ! We become more confused, perplexed, and 
miserable. Hence we make great mistakes, we put 
darkness for light, and light for darkness. We fall into 
a spiritual hypochondriasis, which leads us to regard 
every thing as against us. We find a good evidence, 
and imagine it to be bad. We examine a symptom of 
our spiritual decay, and conceive it to be worse than it 
really is. We meet with one of an indifferent nature, 
and persuade ourselves that it is of the most unfavour- 
able kind. Too often we go on, till we sink down into 
a settled fear, and dulness of spirit, darkness, and de- 
spair. How foolish, how sinful is this conduct ! It 
grieves the Holy Spirit. It assumes that God refuses to 
give us light, or to impart comfort to our souls. It dis- 
honours him. It seems to say, either '- 1 need not," or, 
" I wnll not, go to God himself ; since these fail me, all 
is lost." After continuing for weeks, or months, or even 
years, in this condition, we are at last brought to say, 
" I must, after all, trust the bare promise. It is only 
getting worse and worse with me. I will cast myself 
on God as I am, and if I perish, I perish." When thus 
the Spirit of God has enabled us to do that very thing. 

IV 



126 THE APPEAL. 

which a child ought to have done long before, which 
ought to be the first, the spontaneous, impulse of its 
heart, we find an all-sustaining help. God hears the 
appeal. He honours that confidence which honours 
him. He takes off the heavy burden. He relieves the 
sorrowful heart. He pours balm into the wounded spi- 
rit. And if the poor desponder had come to him at first, 
he should have found the fountain as full, as open, as 
living, as now. Learn, then, O Christian, to make the 
Lord your confidence in the first place, not in the last. 
Begin, and continue, as well as end, all things in him. 
Always draw near to God as you are. Never wait in 
hopes to be something shortly which you are not now. 
Delay is dangerous. Satan will take advantage of it. 
The longer the heart has to cool, the colder it becomes. 
As a piece of iron in the hand of the workman, so is the 
Christian in the hand of God. Instantly as it is removed 
from the fire, the chilling atmosphere around steals its 
heat insensibly away. It soon loses its glowing white- 
ness, becomes covered with darkish spots, and at last re- 
turns to its native blackness. From being susceptible 
of impression, and taking the mould of every stroke, it 
becomes harder and harder, and the next blow will 
break it to pieces, or it must be thrust into the furnace 
again. 

Oh compel not your Maker to deal thus severely with 
you. He desires it not. Instead of retreating into self, 
before the temptations of Satan, or of men, do as your 
Lord here sets you an example. Make a direct appeal 
to God himself Though racked in feeling, as on a 
mental cross, hanging by spikes of perplexity, cast your- 
self on God at once as you are. This is what Jesus 
does in these verses. He does not give way to despond- 
ency or unbelief The moment a temptation assails 
him, he carries it to God. Here he allows himself to be 



THE APPEAL. 127 

reduced, as it were, to the last extremity — to the lowest 
point of creature-weakness — and then places himself in 
the Almighty hand. As if man had proved the case 
against him, he leaves that great Friend to answer the 
charge who had sustained him till now. Nay, as it 
were, he throws a necessity upon God, and makes it ap- 
pear as though he were personally concerned, and bound 
to answer these taunting men. As if he would say, 
^' Thou didst bring me into this being, thou wilt help 
me to sustain it." 

This argument must prevail. It is founded on what 
God himself has done. It places him in the position of 
one who allows his work to be spoiled. It supposes that 
the same motive which induced him to commence, w^U 
lead him ^o complete. It is argumentum ad Deum ; it 
is an argument which involves the Creator in a matter 
of duty and interest. It is heavenly logic. The Great 
Teacher invented it. Every one must enter the school 
of Christ who desires to learn how to employ it. Turn 
to the sermon on the Mount : hear how he exhorts the 
disciples to take no anxious thought for the sustenance 
of their life, or foi* the covering of their body. What is 
the argument he employs ? It is included in this simple 
question, ^' Is not the life more than meat, and the body 
than raiment?" Matt. vi. 25. Yet how much is con- 
tained in that one question ! With what force does it 
urge us to trust all to God ! He gave us the great, and 
will he withhold the small? He supplied life, and will 
he deny food? He provided the body, and will he 
grudge it a covering ? How adapted is such a mode of 
reasoning to our condition ! What we see, and hear, 
and feel, to be realities in the world around us, are made 
the proofs and arguments of an invisible love and care. 

We are thus taught to read God's thoughts in his 
works. Every fowl of the air, every lily of the field, is 



128 THE APPEAL. 

a witness for the Creator, to confound the distrustful 
heart of man. The very hair on our head, and the 
measure of our stature, are made to proclaim not only 
the futility of our anxiety, but also the minuteness and 
exactness of the care of God. Those witnesses, too, are 
daily testifying ; these proofs are hourly at hand ; nay, 
they are part of ourselves. Our perishing flesh gives the 
lie to our doubts and fears. If all inanimate nature 
could speak, it would say, " Trust the all-wise Ruler." 
" But," rejoins the desponding Christian, " the immacu- 
late Redeemer may well use such an argument ; he may 
appeal from his birth, from his life, from every thing he 
pleases, and gain success in all. But my very birth 
ushered me into the pollution of my nature ; I have for- 
feited my life ; my body is corrupt through sin. How, 
then, can I build any argument upon them ? The very 
birds and flowers, the animate and inanimate creation, 
are better in this respect than I am ; they are free from 
that sin by which I am overwhelmed." Thy words are 
true, O disconsolate, but the reasoning proceeds on pre- 
mises that are false. In thus speaking, thou forgettest 
two things ; first, that Christ has taken thy place, and 
pseaks in thy name ; and, secondly, that thoj^ must put 
thyself on the merits of Christ's righteousness, and pre- 
sent every plea and prayer in his name. This is the 
Gospel exchange, of which, in the time of temptation, too 
many lose sight. To this, however, all must come for 
peace and strength ; whether sooner or later, there is the 
same necessity. To trust in Christ's suretyship, and 
build all our arguments on his righteousness, is the only 
source of relief and comfort to the burdened heart. 
" Come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, 
and I will refresh you." If the wearied soul come in- 
stantly, it finds rest. If it labour on for many years, 
and imagine itself not yet weary enough, or heavy laden 



THE APPEAL. 129 

enough, to come to the Saviour, or to be accepted of him, 
it must come to him at last, for no where else can it find 
rest. How much better, then, to come at once, and as 
the sinner is, than to carry so long the heavy burden on 
his own shoulders. This is a ^'voluntary humility" 
w^iich is displeasing to God. How much more like an 
obedient child, to comply the instant w^e are enjoined, 
than to delay long before we submit ! Under the ap- 
pearance of being too afraid of self, it exhibits a degree 
of ignorance and self-will, which is most dangerous and 
sinful. Let us learn to receive the kingdom of heaven 
like a little child. As an infant receives that once doubt- 
ful inheritance, which its surety has secured for it, and 
lives and grows up, in the enjoyment of all its privileges, 
without ever attempting to cancel the guardian's deed, 
so must we. Without asking our consent or advice, a 
Trustee was appointed by our heavenly Father to man- 
age our concerns ; he occupied his whole time, and spent 
his life, to set them right ; he conducted them to a suc- 
cessful issue, and calls on us to enter into the enjoyment 
of them. Receive the kingdom of God at the hand of 
your spiritual Surety, as a child receives an earthly es- 
tate at the hands of a temporal trustee ; do not cancel 
his act ; do not frustrate his work ; grieve not his Spirit. 
It is true you are a sinner, but your Surety'^blood has 
removed all guilt from betw^een you and your heavenly 
Father. It is true you have no right to any thing in 
yourself, but Christ makes over his right to you. It is 
true you can lay no claim to any thing, but Christ pre- 
fers one for you. Your life was forfeited, but Christ has 
paid the penalty ; and your present existeijce is a loan 
for wdiich you are indebted to the death of Christ. Your 
body is indeed corrupted, but there is a time coming, 
when, if you believe in him, Christ \vill " change your 
vile body and make it hke unto his own glorious body." 



130 THE APPEAL. "^ 

Pray, then, to the Spirit of Light to enable you to per- 
ceive the meaning, and to feel the power, of this Gospel 
exchange. It is one, remember, which has been aheady 
made on Christ's part ; he never consulted you before he 
took your nature, and died in your stead. But on your 
part, also, this exchange must be made, as well as on that 
of Christ. As he took your nature voluntarily, so must 
you accept his suretyship ; you must renounce all your 
own grounds of confidence, and place your whole trust 
on the merit of what he has done and suffered. 

But the disconsolate may add, '^ I cannot, like Christ, 
say ^ My God ;' he had a right to use this language. I 
have none !" We answer. True, you have no right in 
yourself, and what is more, you never can have. A sin- 
ful creature can have no inherent right to call God by 
this endearing and connecting name. And if we must 
not trust in God till we possess this right, then are we 
undone. No human being, consequently, dare address 
the Most High by any other titles than those of Creator 
and Judge. Yet even here, you possess a right, and are 
bound to say, my Creator and my Judge. God stands con- 
nected with you in these indissoluble relations. He is your 
Creator, and if you do not trust in him as such, he will 
be your Judge to condemn you. But consciousness of sin 
makes us afraid of God. We know that as our Creator, 
we have violated his laws, and therefore the considera- 
tion of this relation to him, with remembrance of our 
sin, must tend to widen the moral distance which al- 
ready exists. But, blessed be the Father of all mercies, 
our bankrupt name is exchanged for that of Christ ; our 
ruined cause is undertaken by a Surety; our forfeited 
estate is brought back for us by a heavenly Redeemer. 
A Trustee is provided to take our name and nature, our 
debts and penalties, and to make over all his rights and 
privileges to us. In Christ we can call the Almighty 



THE APPEAL. 131 

Creator and Judge our God and our Father. In 
Christ it is our duty to regard God as ours. We sin 
against Christ when we address the Most High in any 
other manner. We virtually deny our obligation to 
obey the commandments, when we do not call God our 
God, The beginning, and basis, of both tables of the 
law is, ^- 1 am the Lord thy God." What a blessed ne- 
cessity is thus laid upon us to regard the Great Creator 
as our God ! What an acceptable knowledge is this 
which makes us acquainted with one whom we can call 
our own ! 

Personality of interest in any matter, gives it sure in- 
fluence over our selfish hearts. We are captivated w^ith. 
the generosity of him, who makes it our first duty to ap- 
propriate his blessings. This one act may be called 
the beginning, continuance, and end, of a Christian's 
w^ork. ''Christ is made of God unto us wdsdom, and 
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption," 1 Cor. 
i. 30, and our whole duty in regard to him as such, is 
that of appropriation, " Put ye on the Lord Jesus 
Christ," Rom. xiii. 14 ; Eph. iv. 24, is the injunction of 
the inspired volume. " Put ye on," that is, take him as 
given ; use him as made over to you ; be wise in his 
wisdom; accepted before God in his righteousness ; 
inwardly pure and holy by his sanctification ; and 
finally and eternally delivered from all sin and corrup- 
tion, from Satan, death, and hell, by his redemption. 
This is the glorious privilege to w^hich we are invited ; 
this is the first, last, and constant duty, which the Scrip- 
tures enjoin. We are all welcome thus to apply Christ's 
fulness to our own use. This w^ork of appropriation is 
an everlasting employment. Till we are able to know 
the fulness of the freely-gifted Saviour, " which passeth 
knowledge," we are not at liberty to cease. Let the 
Christian, then, enter on this duty with alacrity. Let 



132 THE APPEAL. 

him be as willing, as he is welcome, to be always putting 
on the new man, which, after God, is created in righte- 
ousness and true holiness ; and daily appropriating some- 
thing more out of the All-Fulness. This was what 
the apostle did continually. He laid hold more and more 
of the things of Christ, and made them his own. At 
last he was able to say, " all things are mine." So let 
every Christian appropriate what Christ freely gives. 
May the Holy Spirit enable you to do so more and more, 
till you are able, even when looking back on the feeble 
ness of infancy, or when feeling thy nothingness of na- 
ture, and vileness through sin, to cast thyself on the care 
of an Almighty Creator, and say, through Christ, " Thou 
art my Father and my God." 



THE ENTREATY. 



Verse 11. — Be not far from me^ for trouble is near ; foi 

tliere is none to help. 

Persevering urgency of supplicatioiij proves the ex- 
istence alike, of severe distress and powerful faith. This 
entreaty evidences both in the breast of our Lord. Hav- 
ing made a strong appeal to God, he seconds it with 
this earnest entreaty. There is remarkable force and 
propriety in its expressions. Every syllable tells. " Be 
not far, for trouble is near." What a contrast ! What 
an argument ! But see what is added, " for there is 
none to help." What a conclusive statement ! What 
an irresistible appeal ! 

Here is an extremity of sorrow in which Jesus was 
placed. Trouble was near indeed. It was in his body, 
and in his soul. Yet mark what perseverance in prayer. 
Observe how he never deviates from the one petition. 
That presence of God which was first sought, he still 
seeks, and will never rest till he find. Earnest desire 
after God occupies Christ's whole soul. No suffering of 
body, no temptation of spirit, ever diverts him from it. 
His mind is absorbed. His desires are all centred in 
Him whose '' presence is salvation," Psa. xlii. 5, inargin. 

The power of concentration of mind must have been 
fully possessed by our blessed Lord. As a man, we 
must regard him to have been of powerful intellect, lively 
imagination, exalted sentiments, and exquisite feelings. 
This perfect endowment of faculties, necessarily rendered 
him susceptible of impression, to a degree altogether in- 
coriceivable by men of sinful mould. The conceptions 

12 



134 THE ENTREATY. 

of his mind were clear as light ; the pictures of his ima- 
gination alive with the realities of both worlds ; his sen- 
timents pure as the atmosphere of heaven ; his feelings 
tender as tenderness itself With such a constitutional 
temperamentj " with an unfathomable susceptibility of 
anguish," how continually, how sorely must he have 
suffered in this rough world ! He was the " plant of re- 
nown," Ezek. xxxiv. 29 ; the sensitive plant of human- 
ity, recoiling from every touch, and shuddering at every 
approach of sin, that surrounded him on all sides. With 
such an intellect, too, whatever object caught his atten- 
tion, must have obtained a full, undivided, and perfect 
application of thought. There were no opposite princi- 
ples at work in his breast. No hesitation of judgment; 
no debate of choice ; no balancing of interests ; no cal- 
culating of consequences. Perception was immediate ; 
decision instantaneous. His holiness of nature must 
have rendered every exercise of his mind on earthly 
things, a source of pain and grief It is said of Lot that 
" his righteous soul was vexed from day to day with the 
unlawful deeds of the wicked," 2 Pet. ii. 8. Had this 
nephew^ of Abraham not possessed that " righteous soul," 
these deeds would have proved rather a gratification. It 
was his righteousness alone that caused him to suffer in 
seeing and hearing the Sodomites. If this can be said 
of a stained sinner, how much more of the spotless Sa- 
viour ? His essentially righteous soul must have been 
daily grieved with sin, that met him at every turn. Christ 
could not feel indifferent to any thing. Multitudes pass 
unscathed through hfe, panoplied in their indifference. 
Apathy is a coat of mail which nothing penetrates. But 
Christ never put it on. His only breastplate was right- 
eousness. The sw^ord of justice could not penetrate it, 
but the transgressions of men pierced it every hour. 
When, then, Christ here says, 'trouble is near," we 



THE ENTREATY. 135 

must consider that throughout his entire humanity, he 
felt first the trouble, and secondly its nearness. His in- 
tellect perfectly apprehended its nature. His imagination 
was alive to its horrors. His sentiments were shocked 
by its vileness. His feelings lacerated by its nearness. 
Nor did any thing withdraw his attention. He might 
look over both worlds, and find no one that could, and 
would, sympathize in his trouble. He was a sohtary in 
the universe of being. There was a God in heaven, 
there were men on earth, but there was a God-man no- 
where. Christ felt as one left to himself, altogether 
alone : as one also against whom, at this moment, the 
whole universe seemed to be turned ; therefore he adds, 
" There is none to help." I look above, around, below, 
but there is no friend at hand. '^ I looked on my right 
hand and beheld, but there was no man that would 
know me ; refuge failed me ; no man cared for my 
soul," Psa. cxlii. 4. '• I am as a sparrow alone upon 
the house-top,*' Psa. cii. 7, at which arrows are being 
aimed from every quarter. The bird uses not her wings 
to flee, for she sees not the danger. But here is One 
whom all the archers wound — who knows, who feels 
the danger, but who refuses to use his own power to free 
himself He waits till God shall help him. Therefore 
he does nothing but pray. Hear how he perseveres in 
supplication, as other psalms may be understood to rep- 
resent, ^^ Attend unto my cry, for I am brought very 
low," Psa. cxlii. 6. " Save me, O God, for the waters 
are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where 
there is no standing : I am come unto deep w^aters, 
where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my cry- 
ing : my throat is dried : mine eyes fail while I wait for 
my God. They that hate me without a cause are more 
than the hairs of my head : they that would destroy me, 
being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty," Psa. Ixix. 1. 



136^ THE ENTREATY. 

How wonderful and exemplary, O Christian, is this 
conduct of our suffering Lord ! It proves him to have 
been more than man ! His resignation and meekness 
under trial, his patience and perseverance in waiting 
upon the expected help of God, are indeed human vir- 
tues, but exhibited in him with superhuman, and Divine, 
power. He could have proved his own effectual helper. 
A single request in prayer to his Father, would have 
brought twelve legions of angels to his deliverance. Matt, 
xxvi. 53, 54. And what mere man, having such re- 
sources at command, would not have availed himself of 
one, or more, or all, of them, for his help ? What mere 
man could thus leave himself in the hands of his ene- 
mies, and only exercise against them the voice of prayer? 
Jesus on the cross is God incarnate. None but himself 
could have said, '^ There is none to help," and yet not 
make haste to be his own helper. He is hanging in 
death as our surety sacrifice, and he is praying as the 
high priest of our profession. Imitate, then, his exam- 
ple, O Christian, however forsaken, and forlorn, thy cir- 
cumstances may be. Learn that your strength and 
safety lie in Jehovah. Learn that there are periods in 
which you can only leave yourself to him, by leaving 
yourself to your enemies. He that believeth, shall not 
make haste, Isa. xxviii. 16. He that believeth shall not 
be ashamed, Rom. x. 11. He that believeth shall not 
be confounded, 1 Pet. ii. 6. Why ? Because he that 
believes will pray ; and to him that prays and believes 

" NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE," Matt. Xvii. 20. 

How? Because the omnipotence and faithfulness of 
Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are immediately 
engaged, and expressly covenanted, to aid him, by this 
promise,, " Call upon me in the day of trouble ; I will 
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me," Psa. 1. 15. 



THE ASSAULT. 



Verses 12, 13. — Many hulls have compassed me: strong bulls 
of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with 
their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. 

In these and a few of the following verses, our Lord 
more particularly specifies the enemies that surrounded 
him, and the miseries which he endured. He spreads 
his trouble before the Lord, as if he would arouse the at- 
tention of Heaven by the minuteness of detail, and 
prove the reality of his distress, by enumerating its sev- 
eral and most prominent features. 

He begins with his enemies; he compares them to 
" bulls," to " strong bulls of Bashan." In that fertile 
country, this animal was nurtured to its greatest perfec- 
tion ; there it attained its full power and vigour. The 
characteristics of various animals have been figuratively 
applied, in every age and country, to represent those of 
man. The pen of inspiration has here represented the 
enemies of our Lord, by the significant emblem of strong 
bulls. These animals are remarkable for the proud, 
fierce, and sullen manner, with which they exercise 
their great strength. Such were the persecutors who 
now beset our Lord. These were, first, human, and 
secondly, spiritual foes ; and both were ahke distin- 
guished by that proud, fierce, and sullen manner in 
which they assaulted 4Wm. 

When contemplating the crucifixion of our Saviour, it 
is diflicult to keep at all times before the mind the fact, 
that spirits of darkness were as really, and as busily, en- 

12* 



138 THE ASSAULT. 

gaged there, as were human beings. Indeed, we must 
suppose that the latter, before they could reach such a 
height of malicious cruelty and wickedness, must have 
been actuated by malevolent sphits ; their wickedness 
was fostered and directed by a power superior to them- 
selves ; their pouting lips, their wagging heads, their 
pointing fingers, and their taunting tongues, were ani- 
mated by Satanic influence. The spirits of darkness 
had thus a double advantage in their assaults. Their 
own attacks could only be directed immediately on the 
spirit of our Lord. But whenever they desired to bring 
any particular temptation to bear with all possible force, 
they would avail themselves of the members of these 
men^s bodies, to give it human utterance, and to assail 
the outward senses, at the instant they assaulted the in- 
ner man. Such was the strait in which our Lord was 
placed. Many bulls and strong, had beset him round. 
He feels the helplessness of his condition — he tells it to 
his God. 

Imagine you behold a fellow-creature closely pursued ; 
not only one enraged animal, but a whole herd fall upon 
him ; they trample him under foot ; they surround him 
on every side, and low against him; they strike him 
with their horns ; they toss him to and fro ; they rush 
upon him with one accord. What horror, what fearful- 
ness, what helplessness, are pictured in this condition ! 
Just so was it now with our Lord upon the cross. We 
may well imagine him to say with the Psalmist, '• My 
heart is sore pained within me ; and the terrors of death 
are fallen upon me. Fearfulness and trembling are 
come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And 
I said. Oh that I had wings like^dove ; for then would 
I fly away, and be at rest," Psa. Iv. 4 — 6. Great, indeed, 
was that strait in which our Lord was placed upon the 
cross. On all sides he was encompassed, from all sides 



THE ASSAULT. 139 

assailed. With persevering impetuosity would the vari- 
ous powers of darkness press our Lord with their differ- 
ent temptations, throwing tliemselves, as it were, upon 
his spirit. The trouble was near indeed. Christ was 
alone. At every instant he had to repel innumerable 
temptations. This is done by men, as well as by unem- 
bodied spirits, by a direct effort of the will. Christ's hu- 
man soul was incessantly called upon to exercise its holy 
will in the rejection of these temptations ; and it need 
scarcely be added, that a temptation, whether presented 
audibly, visibly, or mentally, cannot possibly leave any 
stain when rejected by the will. Let this be pondered. 
Many individuals feel averse to think that Christ was di- 
rectly tempted by Satan, not distinguishing sufficiently 
the difference between the suggestion, and the reception, 
of evil. It is important to clear this point. Every person 
may readily perceive, that no guilt could result from our 
Lord's hearing a temptation uttered by the mouths of 
these taunting men. So, likewise, no moral stain could 
be left, w^hen, without human instrumentality, the wicked 
spirits darted their suggestions into the Saviour's mind. In 
the one case, the evil word he heard was rejected, and in 
the other, the fiery dart he felt was cast off, by the instan- 
taneous activity, and holy energy, of our Saviour's will. 
The apostle exhorts us to take the shield of faith, 
wherewith we shall be able to quench all the fiery darts 
of the devil, Eph. vi. 16. It was this shield that our 
Lord held fast. Pressed on every side, pinioned in 
his bod)^, wounded in his soul by that sharpest of all 
spears, the curse of God, Christ was now pjaced in the 
greatest strait that ever any immortal spirit knew. The 
sons of pride stood round his cross. Well fed and clothed, 
pampered with all luxury, stout and strong, like bulls 
from the rich pastures of Bashan, they stood and lowed 
against their crucifying victim. Relentless and sullen, 



140 THE ASSAULT 

never once did they show him the remotest pity ; fierce 
and proud, their words and taunts were selected with 
most bitter and cruel ingenuity ; savage in their malice, 
they left nothing undone which could wound and lacer- 
ate his feehngs. What these corporeal foes did visibly, 
and audibly, was an outward picture of what proud, 
fierce, and sullen spirits were doing inwardly. Wrest- 
ling in their great might with the spiritual energy of our 
Lord, they gave unceasing vent to their malicious insin- 
uations ; thrusting themselves close upon his spirit with 
fierce impetuosity, they endeavoured to obtain an entrance 
into the inner chambers of his will. Incessant and in- 
numerable were the temptations with which they be- 
sieged him ; but all in vain. An Almighty and immac- 
ulate Will resided in the crucified frame of Jesus of 
Nazareth. 

So wild, impetuous, and furious, was this assault of 
men and devils, that our Lord adds, "They gaped upon 
me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion," 
verse 13. The deceitful couching, the sudden spring, the 
fearful roar, the tearing power of the lion, give another 
representation of the enemies of the Redeemer, and of 
the nature of their assaults. Hear how he speaks of 
them in the 57th Psalm, 4Lh verse, " My soul is among 
lions ; and I lie even among them that are set on fire, 
even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, 
and their tongue a sharp sword." The cunning and 
treachery of the feline species, may be fitly chosen as 
emblematic of our Saviour's enemies. The Pharisees 
and scribes had often laid wait for him ; they sent per- 
sons to feign themselves just men, who should entangle 
him in his talk. Now then, that they had laid their 
paw of power upon their prostrate victim, they were 
ravening in his blood, and satiating their glaring eyes 
with the sight of his mangled and quivering body. " In 



THE ASSAULT. 141 

mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves 
together : yea, the abjects gathered themselves together 
against me, and I knew it not ; they did tear me, and 
ceased not. With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they 
gnashed upon me with their teeth. Lord, how long 
wilt thou look on? rescue my soul from their destruc- 
tions, my darhng from the lions," Psa. xxxv. 15 — 17. 



THE FAINTNESS. 



Verse M. — I am poured out like water, and all my bones are 
out of joint : my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst 
of my bowels. 

The most strenuous efforts of the combine^ Powers of 
Darkness — the most cruel taunts and sorest torments of 
men — could make no unholy impression on the spirit of 
the great Redeemer. His flesh, however, felt the effects 
of their assaults. His blessed body was exquisitely sus- 
ceptible of impression. It could suffer, it could languish, 
it could die. 

Our Lord evinces, by the words of this verse, how in- 
tensely he feels the weakness of his earthly vessel. What 
expressive terms convey the knowledge of it to our 
minds ! We can more readily sympathize in the bodily 
sensations which our Lord experienced, than in the men- 
tal and spiritual anguish which he endured. 

He was stretched. We know what pains ensue 
to a limb or a finger, that is kept in one unvarying posi- 
tion, even for a few minutes. Christ had now been 
stretched for nearly, as some think, six hours. 

He was transfixed with nails. The most tender 
parts of his body, the hands and feet, where the nerves 
of sensation are most numerous, and close together, were 
pierced with large strong nails. We know what we feel 
when a thorn, which we can scarcely discern, lodges in 
our skin. 

He was racked to dislocation. When the ele- 
vated cross settled into its socket, the jerk must have sha- 



THE FAINTNESS. 143 

ken the crucified person with great violence. A racking 
jar must have been felt throughout the entire frame. 
Every muscle would be stretched, and the ligaments of 
the joints strained. From what we must conceive to 
have been the previous enfeebled state of our Lord's body, 
we conclude that its muscular power rnust have been 
greatly diminished. It is not improbable but that, w4th 
the shock, the hgaments w^ould not only be strained, but 
also would give way, so that partial or entire dislocation 
ensued, especially in the wrist, elbow, and shoulder, of 
each arm. The text informs us that it was so. " All 
my bones are out of joint." Not one was broken, but 

r^ most, or all, were dislocated. 

I His body was burdened with its own weight. 
Having hung for so many hours, the strain on every 
part of the frame would increase with every succeeding 
moment. The gradual elongation of the muscles must 
necessarily weaken them. Strong spasms, incessant 
aches, and shooting pangs, would still further incapa- 
citate them for the office of sustaining. The depressed 
body, dragging thus from the arms, would sink upon 
itself It is uncertain whether there were any projecting 
pin in the centre of the cross, to sustain part of the weight 
of the body. If there were none, as some think, then 
the entire weight must have been suspended from the 
hands. The loins, loosened by intense agony, would be 
incapable of yielding to the limbs that strength which 
was necessary to maintain them in an upright position. 
The knees therefore would be bent forward in utter 
weakness. The wounds in the hands would conse- 
quently be torn, and greatly enlarged. The heel also, 
and that part of the foot which was above the nail, 
would be pressed with painful force upon the iron. 

He was faint. Such a feeling of languor and faint- 
ness supervened, that language fails to express it, and 



144 THE FAINTNESS. 

the emblem of " water poured out" is employed to repre- 
sent it. As the water falls from the vessel to the earth, 
see how its particles separate farther and farther from 
each other. Its velocity increases as it falls. It has no 
power to stay itself mid-way, much less to return to its 
place. It is the very picture of utter weakness. Such 
was our Lord's experience. The sensations we feel 
when about to faint away are extremely distressing. 
We appear to our own consciences to be nothing but 
weakness — as w^ater poured out: every bone feels re- 
laxed and out of joint ; it seems as though we had none ; 
the strength of bone is gone, the knitting of the joints i 
loosened, and the muscular vigour fled. A sickly giddi-1 
ness overcomes us. We have no power to bear up. AI 
heart is lost. Our strength disappears, like that of waxJ 
of melting wax, which drops upon surrounding objectsj 
and is lost. Daniel thus describes his sensations on be^ 
holding the great vision, '• There remained no strength 
in me ; for my vigour was turned into corruption, and I 
retained no strength," Dan. x. 8. In regard, however, 
to the faintness which our Lord experienced, we ought 
to notice this additional and remarkable circumstance, 
that he did not altogether faint away. The relief of m- 
sensibility he refused to take. When consciousn^s 
ceases, all perception of pain is necessarily and instantly 
terminated. But our Lord retained his full conscious- 
ness throughout this awful scene ; and patiently en- 
dured for a considerable period those, to us, insupporta|)le 
sensations, which precede the actual swoon. ; 

Let the afflicted Christian, when sunk alike in health 
and spirits, and passing, it may be, out of one faint into 
another, endeavour to think of the Saviours faintness on 
the cross. The elder brother can sympathize with us 
even in such an extremity of feeling. Remember how 
meekly he bore his own affliction ; how tenderly he feels 



THE FAINTNESS. 145 

for the most unworthy of his brethren in their distresses. 
Call to mind that compassionate consideration which 
he exhibited in the days of his flesh, towards the multi- 
tudes that followed him, Matt. ix. 36. Hear how he 
speaks to his disciples, ^' I will not send them away fast- 
ing, lest they faint in the way,'' Matt. xv. 32. Now 
that he is ascended to the highest heavens, his heart is 
as full of sympathy as before. Whilst therefore you 
would desire that he should regard your present trial, 
direct your own attention in like manner to his former 
affliction. The sympathy between Jesus, the head, and 
your soul, as a member of his spiritual body, w4Il thus 
be consummated. The very lowest depth of your experi- 
ence, shall find that of Christ beneath it. Sink, then, 
and fail, as may both heart and flesh, the sympathy of 
Jesus-God will fail you never. Therefore, let all afflicted 
Christians attentively, and fully, and unremittingly, 
^•CONSIDER HIM THAT ENDURED," lest they becomo 
" wearied, and faint in their minds," Heb. xii. 3. Though 
faint, let them be still pursuing, under the Captain of 
their salvation, against all their enemies. Judges viii. 4. 
Yea. though the outward man perish, there is no cause 
to faint, 2 Cor. iv. 16. Even tlx)ugh darkness envelope 
them, let not their hearts despond. ^^ Why sayest thou, 
O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the 
Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my. God? 
Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard; that the 
everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the 
earth, fainteth not, neither is weary ? He giveth power 
to the faint, and to them that have no might he increas- 
eth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, 
and the young men shall utterly fall : but they that wait 
upon the Lord shall renew their strength ; they shall 
mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not 

13 



146 THE PAINTNESS. 

be weary ; and they shall walk, and not faint," Isa. xl. 
27—31. 

If then, O Christian, thou faintest in the day of adver- 
sity, may we not say, '^ thy strength is small ?" Prov. 
xxiv. 10. Christ is given of God to be our strength. 
Lay hold on him, and thou shalt be invincible. Pray 
fervently to the Holy Spirit to inspire thee with the mind 
that was in Jesus ; to impart to thee the same desires 
and earnest longings which filled his heart. It was not 
with mere pain, that he was faint. It was not with 
anxiety to be freed from affliction, that his spirit melted. 
It was with intense desires after God, with unutterable 
emotions under his feather's withdrawal, that Christ's 
heart was poured out like water. We may suppose these 
to be his words, " My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for 
the courts of the Lord ; my heart and my flesh crieth 
out for the living God," Psa. Ixxxiv. 2. " O God, thou 
art my God ; early will I seek thee : my soul thirsteth 
for thee, my flesh longeth for thee. My soul followeth 
hard after thee," Psa. Ixiii. 1, 8. This was the " one 
thing" which Christ desired, -which he sought after. Is 
this also the chief happiness of your heart ? Is the en- 
joyment of God's favour — the return of his presence of 
light and love — the principal subject of your prayers, the 
first and last object of your hopes, anxieties, and desires ? 
Then fear not, neither despair. Weep, and mourn, yet 
do not despond. Sow many prayers, cast forth your 
supplications, plant your petitions without ceasing, and 
in due season you shall reap, if you faint not. Gal. 
vi. 9. 



THE EXHAUSTION. 



Verse 15. — My strength is dried up like a potsherd^ and my 
tongue cleavetk to my jaws ; and thou hast brought me into 
the dust of death 

Though the faintnesSj mentioned in the preceding 
verse, never reached its crisis, yet it was followed by 
COMPLETE EXHAUSTION. This was the natural effect 
of crucifixion. We have remarked that our Lord's body 
was stretched, was transfixed with nails, was racked to 
dislocation, was burdened with its own weight, and was 
oppressed by faintness. We now further observe, that 
INFLAMMATION iiiust have commeuccd early, and vio- 
lently, in the wounded parts — have been quickly impart- 
ed to those that were strained — and have terminated in 

a HIGH DEGREE OF FEVERISH BURNING OVER THE 

WHOLE BODY. The animal juices would thus be dried 
up, and the watery particles of the blood absorbed. The 
skin, parched by the scorching sun till mid-day, would 
be unable to imbibe, or supply, any moisture. The loss 
of blood, at the hands and feet, would hasten the desic- 
cation. Hence our Lord says, " My strength is dried up 
like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws." 
The fever would devour his small remaining strength. 
And THIRST, that most intolerable of all bodily priva- 
tions, must have been overpowering. His body appeared, 
to his feeling, like a potsherd that had been charred in 
the potter's kiln. It seemed to have neither strength, nor 
substance, left in it. So feeble had he become, so parched 
and dried up, that claiveminess of the mouth, one of 



148 THE EXHAUSTION. 

the forerunners of immediate dissolution, had aheady 
seized him. " My tongue cleaveth to my jaws, and thou 
hast brought me into the dust of death." 

" For our sakes Christ yielded himself hke ^ water' 
without resistance, to the violence of his enemies ; suffer- 
ing his ^ bones,' in which consisteth the strength of the 
frame, to be distended and dislocated upon the cross ; 
while, by reason of the fire from above, to the burning 
heat of which this i)aschal lamb was exposed, his heart 
dissolved and melted away. The intenseness of his pas- 
sion, drying up all the fluids, brought on a thirst torment- 
ing beyond expression, and at last laid him low in the 
grave. Never, blessed Lord, was love like unto thy love ! 
Never was sorrow like unto thy sorrow ! Thy spouse 
and body mystical, the Church, is often in a degree con- 
formed unto thee, and as thou wert, so is she in this 
world." — Bishop Home on the Psalms. 

The statement of this verse may be illustrated, by the 
situation of a soldier expiring on the field of battle.* Of 
a late excellent officer, and exemplary Christian, it is re- 
corded, that he '^ lay wounded, naked, bleeding, and 
helpless, for two days and two nights, exposed to the in- 
tense heat of a burning sun, and, what every soldier, 
whose lot it has been to lie wounded on a field of battle, 
knows to be more dreadful than any or all circumstances 
of suffering united together, to the avant of water." 
He says, ^* At this dreadful period of pain and destitution, 
I was lying naked on a bank of scorching sand, fainting 
from time to time with loss of blood, and, from the seve- 
rity of my wounds, unable to move, I was assailed with 
the rage of intolerable thirst. Mere weakness, approach- 
ing to insensibility, induced at length a kind of resigna- 
tion, and even a hope that a few hours would put a pe- 
riod to my sufferings." — Governor MelviWs Memoirs, 

* Poole's Synopsis. 



THE EXHAUSTION. 149 

Such is the natural, human, feehng, under protracted 
sufferings. But the grand desire of our Lord, was not 
their mere termination, but the return of the Hght of his 
Father's countenance. However severe were his bodily 
pains, they appeared to him as nothing in comparison 
with this, that the consolations of God's presence should 
be absent from him, when he was on the very point of 
expiring. He therefore complains of it, sets it forth as 
an argument, " Thou hast brought me into the dust of 
death ;" as if he would say, " And dost thou still leave 
me, when I sink exhausted under the last enemy ?" 

Sad and sorrowful condition to w^hich the Saviour of 
the world was reduced ! Grievous, indeed, is sin, when 
we see what it cost the Saviour ! Thy sins, O reader, 
brought Jesus to this extremity ! He endured the agony 
of a raging thirst, that thou mightest drink of the river 
of God's pleasure. Go down, then, deep into the foun- 
tain of thy heart. Let the wounds of Jesus open all the 
springs. Bring forth the tears of true contrition and 
penitence, to satisfy the longing desire of him who thirsts 
for thy soul's eternal welfare. Be not like the unfeeling 
potsherds of this world, who strive against their Maker, 
Isa. xlix. 5. Say not thy sins are few in number, and 
not aggravated in their nature. One sin thrust Adam 
out of paradise. Thy one sin, either brought Christ to 
this cross, or will bring thee to perdition. Repent ! Re- 
pent ! Shall Jesus thirst, and thirst for thee, and wilt 
thou grudge him a tear ? Shall His tongue be power- 
less, and wilt thou not speak for it, and say, " Sad, sad 
day in which I sinned ! Cursed be the guilt with which 
I crucified my Saviour !" Fall upon thy knees, and 
pray, " Lord, make me to weep over myself and thee. 
Help me to learn the atrocity of my sins, in the severity 
of thy sorrows." This is both thy duty, and thy privi- 
lege, fellow-sinner. Lest angels weep over thy death- 

13^ 



150 THE EXHAUSTION. 

bed, weep thou with thy dying Lord. His stripes wuU 
heal thee. His wounds will cure thee. His sorrows will 
comfort thee. 

Blest Balm of Gilead ! bruised to be our medicine ! 
I feel thy bruises as my own. They are mine, and they 
are thine : for I inflicted them, and thou didst bear them. 
Amazing partnership of sin and sorrow ! The sin is 
mine, the sorrow thine. Yet mine thou takest, and 
thine mine makest. So now thy sorrow's mine, and all 
my sins are thine. O . wonderful exchange of love and 
grace, with gratitude and sympathy ! 



THE PIERCING. 



Verse 16. — For dogs have compassed me : the assembly of the 
wicked have enclosed me : they pierced my hands and my feet. 

So varied, and so great, was the malignity exhibited 
by the enemies of our Lord, that the characteristics of 
two species of ferocious animals, were not adequate to its 
representation. Another emblematical figure is there- 
fore introduced. The assembly of the wicked is com- 
pared to that of dogs, who haunt about the cities, prowl 
in every corner, snarl over the carrion, and devour it all 
with greediness. Like the w41d cry of dogs in pursuit, 
with unfailing scent tracking their victim, vigilance of 
eye on all its movements, and a determination which 
nothing can falter, they run it on to death. The oriental 
mode of hunting, both in ancient and modern times, is 
murderous and merciless in the extreme. A circle of 
several miles in circumference is beat round ; and the 
men, driving all before them, and narrowing as they ad- 
vance, inclose the prey on every side. Having thus made 
them prisoners, the cruel hunters proceed to slaughter at 
their own convenience. So did the enemies of our Lord. 
Long before his crucifixion, it is recorded that they used 
the most treacherous plans to get him into their power. 
The scribes and the pharisees began to urge him vehe- 
mently, and to provoke him to speak of many things ; 
laying wait for him, and seeking to catch something out 
of his mouth, that they might accuse him, Luke xi. 53, 
54. And they watched him, and sent forth spies which 
should feign themselves just men, that they might take 



152 THE PIERCING. 

hold of his words, that so they might dehver him into 
the power and authority of the governor, Luke xx. 20. 
Having marked their victim, having chosen their oppor- 
tunity, having tracked him to his usual resort, the dogs 
compassed him^ the wicked enclosed him. Judas, who 
'^ knew the place," ^^ came, and with him a great multi- 
tude with swords and staves," John xviii. 2, and Matt. 
xxvi. 4,7 : and they laid hold on him and led him away. 
" And as soon as it was day, the elders of the people, and 
the chief priests, and the scribes, came together, and led 
him into their council," Luke xxii. 66. " Of a truth. 
Lord, against thy holy child Jesus, both Herod and 
Pontius Pilate, wnth the gentiles and the people of Israel, 
were gathered together," Acts iv. 27. 

Thus was our Lord pursued to death — surrounded on 
all sides — by wicked hands taken, and crucified, and 
slain. Like a stag in the midst of the hunters, he saw 
no way to turn. " The archers sorely grieved him, and 
shot at him," Gen. xlix. 25. That he might not escape, 
they pierced his hands and his feet. They did not ex- 
pedite his death. His w^ounds were in the limbs, not in 
the vital parts, lest he should too soon be gone. The 
wicked Lords of the Phihstines said, " Gall for Samson 
that he may make us sport," Judges xvi. The cry in 
Pilate's court was, " Grucify him, crucify him ;" not 
merely " Away with him from the earth," but '^ Away 
with him in the most shameful manner, and w^ith the 
most excruciating torments, that the laws allow." Not- 
withstanding tliB infatuated madness of the moment, the 
Jews remembered that it was not lawful for them to put 
any man to death. Nor, indeed, would the severest of 
their own legal punishments have satisfied their malice. 
They appear glad for once to be under Roman law, that 
they may insure for their victim a Roman punishment. 
Herod and Pilate dismissed their enmity, and the hypo- 



THE PIERCING. 153 

critical mob cried out, " We have no king but Caesar." 
The expostulations of the relenting governor only in- 
censed their rage. His attempt to dehver himself from 
the guilt of pronouncing condemnation on the innocent, 
made them only the more eager to take it upon them- 
selves, " His blood be on us and on our children." Aw- 
ful legacy of imprecation, which their posterity to this 
day inherit ! The outrageous clamour of the priests 
and of the people prevailed ; the wavering judge gave 
sentence for the ignominious and cruel execution. On 
Calvary they had, at last, the satisfaction to behold him, 
firmly grasped in the lingering death of the Roman cross. 
Of all sanguinary punishments, that of crucifixion is one 
of the most dreadful. No vital part is immediatel)^ af- 
fected by it. The hands and feet, which are furnished 
with the most numerous and sensitive organs, are perfo- 
rated with nails, which must necessarily be of some size 
to suit their intended purpose. The tearing asunder of 
the tender fibres of the hands and feet, the lacerating of 
so many nerves, and bursting of so many blood-vessels, 
must be productive of intense agony. The nerves of the 
hand and foot, being the terminations of those which oc- 
cupy the arm and leg ; and these being intimately con- 
nected with the nerves of the whole body, the laceration 
of the former must be felt over the entire frame. Wit- 
ness the melancholy result of even a needless puncture, 
in any one of these remote parts, that a spasm is not un- 
frequently produced in the muscles of the face, which 
locks the jaws inseparably. When, then, the hands and 
feet of our blessed Lord were transfixed with nails, he 
must have felt the sharpest pangs shoot through every 
part of his body. Supported only by his lacerated limbs, 
and suspended from his pierced hands, our Lord had 
nearly six hours' torment to endure. 

Our Jesus is thus the pierced One. He was 



154 THE PIERCING. 

pierced in his head by the thorns, he was pierced in his 
back by the scourge, he was pierced in his hands and 
his feet by the nails, and he was pierced in his side by 
tiie spear. This forms one proof that he is the true 
Messiah. O Jew, reach hither thy finger, and behold 
his hands ; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into 
his side, and be not faithless but believing. The prom- 
ise is sure ; the time is approaching, (may it not be far 
ofl'!) concerning which he has declared, "I will pour 
upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplications ; and 
they shall look upon ME WHOM THEY HAVE 
PIERCED, and they shall mourn for him as one mourn- 
eth for his only son ; and shall be in bitterness for him, 
as one that is in bitterness for his first-born," Zech. xii. 
10. Our New Testament testifies the same truth with 
the Old Testament which the disciples of Moses vene- 
rate. They were wTitten by ths same Spirit of inspira- 
tion. The light w^hich guided the pen of Zeehariah, 
directed that of John ; and because the time of the ac- 
complishment is so much nearer, the latter proclaims, 
^' Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see 
him, and they also which PIERCED him : and all kin- 
dreds of the earth shall w^ail because of him, even so, 
amen," Rev. i. 7. Oh that multitudes of Jews and Gen- 
tiles may be prepared for that day ! May the Spirit of 
hfe come into the dry bones, and may an exceeding great 
army be raised up, who, as faithful soldiers of the cross, 
will not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ cruci- 
fied, but will fight manfully under his banner against 
sin and the world, Satan and the flesh. 

Look hither, also, O Christian ! The bleeding Sa- 
viour is raised up, that whosoever looketh unto him may 
be healed. As the Israelites of old were saved from in- 
stant, and painful dissolution, by turning their weeping 



THE PIERCING. 155 

eyes to the brazen serpent ; so now by the eye of faith, 
when thou lookest to Jesus exalted on the cross, thou 
shalt be delivered from spiritual and eternal death. 
^- Look unto ME, and be ye saved, all ye ends of the 
earth.'' As it is a spiritual or moral looking, so is it a 
spiritual or moral salvation. We behold in Christ's body 
the effects of sin, and we learn to hate it, as the cause 
of evil to our best friend. We see the nails driven 
through his quivering flesh, and we would fain pluck 
them out again, and cast them away. But we learn 
that our sins were the sharpest piercings which our Sa- 
viour felt, and we hasten to remove them. As we would 
turn, with dismay and abhorrence, from the sharp spear, 
and bloody nails, that pierced the Saviour's body, so 
should we from our own sins and transgressions. This 
is the healing of the soul by the wounds of Jesus, when 
the piercing of his body affects our heart wath hatred 
against sin. It is for this reason that he is named Jesus, 
for he saves his people from their sins, Matt. i. 21. The 
safety of heaven is not only secured to them at last, but 
the salvation of holiness is imparted to them at present. 
They are saved from the dominion of sin, saved from 
the practice of sin, and saved from the love of sin. The 
sight of a crucified and pierced Saviour, accomplishes 
this great work in their hearts. When the Spirit of 
Light opens their naturally darkened understanding to 
apprehend what Christ the Lord has suffered on their 
behalf ; when they thus " look on him whom they have 
pierced," they begin to mourn indeed, and to be in bit- 
terness, because their best friend should suffer to such a 
degree, and that their sins should be the cause. A full 
and generous grief takes possession of their breasts. 
They feel as if they had a right to weep over one whom 
they have slain, who loved them. Like Mary, his mo- 
ther, a sword now pierces through their own soul also, 



156 THE PlER(;iNG. 

Luke ii. 35, when they think of their torn and pierced 
Saviour. Every one mourns apart. In the secret of the 
closet, when no eye sees them, they bitterly mourn over 
the sins by which they have pierced their Lord. And 
in proportion as the Spirit of grace and supplication is 
received, so is the depth of their sorrow, and the bitter- 
ness of their lamentation. In this world alone do they 
weep. The days of their mourning terminate when 
they behold the Saviour in his glory ; therefore they will 
not now restrain their tears, since God himself is to wipe 
them away for ever. And though they would gladly 
rather depart and be with Christ, which is far better, yet 
do they feel a sacred, unutterable, blessedness, when, ly- 
ing in thought at his bleeding feet, they water them, as 
it were, with genuine, grateful tears, from their pierced 
and broken hearts. 



THE EMACIATION. 



Verse 17. — I may tell all my hones. 

The more we consider the character of our Lord and 
Saviour, the more does this conclusion force itself upon 
our minds, that his hfe must have been one entire suf- 
fering. A holy being in a sinful world, must have felt 
as a creature would out of its native element. A won- 
der as he himself was to men, they must have seemed 
more strange to him. That they could eat their food — 
exert their strength — enjoy their pleasures — bask in the 
sunshine — converse and smile, inhaling the fragrance 
of their eastern perfumes, and not love, with heart and 
soul, the God who gave them all, must have appeared 
to him, as it really is, unnatural and monstrous. To 
find men intelligent and reasonable ; prudent and amia- 
ble ; diligent and industrious ; kind and grateful ; on 
all occasions except one, towards all persons except one ; 
and that occasion, the highest and noblest that could 
occupy their faculties, and that One the Being who made 
them by his hand at first, and by a constant exercise of 
his power, imparted hfe in every breath they drew, must 
have made him conclude that he was resident, either in 
a world of most daring rebels, or in a vast asylum of 
monomaniacs. With too much truth, it may be said, 
he was in both. Man possesses noble and generous 
powers, but he will not render to God the tribute of 
them all. This wilfulness renders him a rebel — and 
the universaUty of its exhibition on this one point, con- 

14 



158 THE EMACIATION. 

stitutes him a monomaniac. Moralists and physicians, 
viewing man from different points, and in various hghts, 
have come to the same melancholy conclusion. The 
maxims of the world prudently coincide here with the 
doctrines of divines ; and that no man should trust his 
brother where self-interest is concerned, is a proverbial 
adage of undisputed wisdom. Self is the bUnd and 
blinding idol. It is the household god, in every man's 
heart, to which he pays a daily homage. Where, how- 
ever, self is not brought into action, man can understand 
clearly, feel tenderly, and act in a noble and generous 
manner. He seems for once to have come to himself ; 
but soon he relapses, and God, and his fellow-creatures, 
are again excluded from the charmed circle of his selfish 
heart. 

When Christ beheld the world he wept over it. He 
loved and pitied the sinners whom he saw, but that love 
and pity came back to his own heart wdth a fatal recoil. 
He looked not only upon the face, but into the heart of 
men, and knew them better than they knew themselves. 
If the very best of human beings perceive much in them- 
selves to lament, how much more quickly could Christ 
detect it in them, and more holily abhor it ? Therefore 
he must have been always sorrowful, and that sorrow 
preyed upon his frame. When only about thirty years 
of age, he looked as if he w^ere almost twenty years 
older. "Thou art not yet fifty years old," was the 
observation of the Jews ; which shows their idea of 
his age, taken from his face and figure. The prophet 
foretold this, " Many were astonished at thee ; his vis* 
age was so marred more than any man, and his form 
more than the sons of men. He hath no form nor come- 
liness ; and when w^e shall see him, there is no beauty 
that we should desire him," Isa. hi. 14 ; hii. 2. Such 
was the blessed Saviour's personal appearance. He 



THE EMACIATION. 159 

fasted often. He spent whole nights in prayer to God. 
He wandered about on his own blessed feet. He rested 
himself for very weariness on the side of a well, and 
asked for water to drink. He twice fed thousands, but 
never performed a miracle for self-supply. For several 
days immediately preceding his crucifixion, he obtained 
little or no rest. He walked to Jerusalem almost every 
morning, and returned to Bethany every evening. The 
day was spent in warning the crowded city ; the night 
was passed in solitude, with prayer to God. Of himself 
at this time we may regard him as speaking in the words 
of the Psalmist, " I am gone like the shadow when it de- 
clineth. I am tossed up ancj down as the locust. My 
knees are weak through fasting, and my flesh faileth of 
fatness," Psa. cix. 23, 24. ^^ My days are consumed like 
smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. My 
heart is smitten, and withered like grass ; so that I for- 
get to eat my bread. By reason of the voice of my 
groaning, my bones cleave to my skin," Psa. cii. 3 — 5. 
On that ever memorable night in which he was be- 
trayed, no couch welcomed him to repose. He left the 
upper room of the last supper for the garden of Geth- 
semane. There the wearied disciples slept while Jesus 
knelt upon his last bed. But that kneeling was not in 
'rest ; it was in unutterable anguish. His very flesh, too, 
as if equally willing with his groaning spirit, wept forth 
its blood in sympathy at every pore. In body and soul, 
Jesus appears to have been quite spent. To strengthen 
his humanity an angel was sent from heaven. Scarcely 
had this relief arrived, than the traitor came. Instantly 
surrounded by the armed band, and violently seized, he 
was hurried back into the city. From one judgment- 
seat to another, he was carried, with little or no inter- 
mission, during the whole of the night. From Annas 
he was led to Caiaphas ; from Caiaphas he was sent to 



160 THE EMACIATION. 

Pilate ; from Pilate to Herod ; and from Herod back to 
Pilate again. The night, too, was cold. Even the 
hardy soldiers needed a fire to warm themselves. Peter, 
too, could welcome its heat, while perhaps his Lord was 
trembling with the chill of that large hall. As if the 
victim of human and satanic malice were not yet suffi- 
ciently reduced, they must needs beat out his small re- 
maining strength. Man scourged that back on which 
his sins were laid ; and Christ allowed the stripes to fall 
without a murmur, that by them his people might be 
healed. From the fifth judgment-seat, he was at last 
led forth to Calvary and to crucifixion. Like other pris- 
oners, it was necessary that he should carry his own 
cross. The burden was laid upon his blessed shoulder. 
His exhausted and emaciated frame could scarcely sup- 
port its own Aveight. They observed his feeble tottering 
step ; they marked his sunken eye, his ghastly visage, 
his bending, trembling, figure. Sad sight ! Even the 
Romans pitied it. Those ruthless soldiers who mocked 
his dying agonies, commiserated his burdened weakness, 
dragging his steps along. They stopped the proces- 
sion. It was the centurion that issued the humane 
command. They removed the wood, and laying hold on 
Simon the Cyrenian, compelled him to bear it after Jesus. 
This is the only act of kindness which his enemies per- 
formed for him. And great indeed must have been the 
Saviour's weakness when he could not bear even this 
weight ; for as the large upright beam was generally left 
on Golgotha, it was only the cross piece that was usually 
laid upon the condemned. Somewhat relieved by this 
exchange, the progress to the mount of crucifixion was 
easier and more speedy. There for the last time did the 
Saviour of our souls lie down. The hard wood was his 
bed, a cross without a covering. The soldiers stretched 
his limbs and nailed them fast upon it at their utmost 



THE EMACIATION. 161 

length, as it lay upon the ground. Immediately as they 
raised it his emaciated frame was exposed to view. It 
is worn to skin and bone. He looks down on it. He 
surveys his wasted body. He exclaims, ^^ I may tell all 
my bones." So plainly did the stretching on the cross 
bring them all to view, that he was able, as it were, to 
count their number, and tell them one by one. '^The 
skin and flesh were so distended by the posture of the 
body on the cross, that the bones, as through a thin veil, 
became visible, and might be counted ; and the holy 
Jesus, forsaken and stripped, naked and bleeding, was a 
spectacle to heaven and earth." — Bishop Home on 
the Psahiis. 

Learn, professing disciple, a never-to-be-forgotten les- 
son, from thy Lord's emaciated frame. " The zeal of 
God's house consumed him, it had even eaten him up," 
Psa. Ixix. 9 ; the flesh was worn oft' his bones. With 
love to souls, and earnest desires for the glory of God, he 
spent his life. As it was a holy, so it was a whole 
burnt-offering, which he presented to his Father. In 
mercy to you, the Father accepted it. In mercy to you, 
the Saviour substituted his body for yours, and his soul 
in your soul's stead. In mercy to you, the Holy Spirit 
exhibits to you this crucified Saviour in the glass of the 
word, and offers all the benefits of his bitter sufferings to 
your acceptance. "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, 
by the mercies of God, that ye present YOUR bodies a 
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your 
reasonable service," Rom. xii. 1. Let the love of Christ 
constrain you to live no longer unto yourselves, but unto 
him that died for you, and rose again, 2 Cor. v. 14, 15. 
Gratitude demands ; let gratitude impel. The Lord lov- 
eth a cheerful giver. Indulge not the flesh, but the spir- 
it. Keep your body in subjection. Dwelling in your 
ceiled houses, and enjoying the abundance of all things 

14* 



162 THE EMACIATION. 

which the Lord sends, without a famine, on this favoured 
land, see that your soul hunger and thirst after right- 
eousness. Alas for professing Christians ! Luxury stints 
their spiritual growth ! Sleeping, dressing, and eating, 
occupy the greater part of those hours which remain from 
the cares and business of life ! Though Jesus had not 
where to lay his head, yet would he not take your 
downy pillow from you, but would have you to choose 
for your soul, the portion of the beloved disciple, to lie in 
the bosom of his love. And can heavenly desires arise 
within the loaded, pampered, flesh? Can that mind 
find communion with God, which grovels after earthly 
gratifications ? Are indolence, and worldhness, and self- 
pleasing, the means of amassing spiritual and eternal 
riches? Art thou a soldier of Christ, and dost thou 
never fight ? Is there a race set before thee, and hast 
thou no desire to win ? Hast thou a cross to bear, and 
dost thou never try its weight ? Look here at thy dy- 
ing Lord. He has worn himself to a shadow in thy ser- 
vice ! " He went about continually doing good." Art 
thou a follower of Christ ? Are thy feet treading in his 
steps ? His were up-hill. His whole life was one labo- 
rious ascent. Dost thou press after him ? The propen- 
sity to descend is natural, and like the power of gravita- 
tion, secret, constant, and powerful. Dost thou bear up 
against it? Is there vigour, earnestness, determination, 
in thy spirit? Art thou full awake? Is Christ's life 
stirring within thee, enabling thee to spend and to be 
spent in the best of services? Art thou able to say, 
" With my soul have I desired thee in the night : yea, 
with my spirit within me will I seek thee early ?" Isa. 
xxvi. 9. Are thy prayers cold, formal, heartless, collec- 
tions of words ? or are they earnest, fervent, persevering, 
accompanied with sighs and tears in secret, and often 
presented in ejaculations, desires, and waiting expecta- 



THE EMACIATION. 163 

tions? Thy Saviour loves heart work. He abhors 
mere appearance. Therefore when he sets thee the 
example, it is reality : and when he calls thee, even to 
the severest exercises, for the subjugation of those fleshly 
lusts which war against the soul, he bids thee anoint 
thine head, and wash thy face, that thou appear not 
unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret, 
who will reward thee openly. 



THE INSULTING GAZE. 



Verse 17. — They look and stare upon me. 

Sensitively conscious of his condition upon the 
crosSj the delicate feelings of the holy Saviour were sorely 
pained by the gaze of the multitude. With impudent 
face they looked upon him. At their ease they surveyed 
him. To view him better, they halted as they walked. 
With deliberate insolence they collected in groups, and 
made their remarks to each other, on his conduct and 
appearance. Mocking his quivering, emaciated body, 
they looked and stared upon him. 

How revolting is it to our feelings, to be made the sub 
ject of remark, the object of a stare ! Pure and innocent 
minds are the most acutely wounded. The face of guilt 
is not so easily abashed. Jesus as a man was innocence 
itself That lovely modesty, which is a sure ingredient 
in real worth, was fully possessed by Christ. In the ac- 
count given of him by Isaiah liii. 3, margin, it is said, 
" And he hid as it were his face from us." Like the in- 
dividual who must pass through a place where he is 
hooted and despised, he turns away his face, and seeks 
to escape from observation. Nor is such conduct prompt- 
ed either by cowardice or self-accusation. It is a duty to 
his own feelings, to save them from such severe and 
painful trials. So was it with Christ : he ever shrunk 
back from the contemptuous gaze of the multitude. 
When he encountered it in their crowded cities, he hid 
his face against the wall, and hastened out of their 
streets. But here on the cross, he could look nowhere 



THE INSULTING GAZE. 165 

but their eyes met his. Every one was staring with 
open eye-lid. His emaciated frame — his convulsive 
shudders — his spasmodic movements — his naked body — 
were the subjects of their ridicule, the objects of their in- 
sulting gaze. 

There is a something in the human eye which gives it 
peculiar power. It is, at times, as if a spirit, from an- 
other world, were looking through it. A glance arrests 
the attention ; a look overawes the mind. We seem to 
be fascinated. No sooner do we turn our eyes away, 
than the hated object is again looked at. It is the pecu- 
liar prerogative of the wicked to stare the good out of 
countenance. This may seem but a light affliction, yet 
it is specially recorded by the Spirit of God, as one of the 
painful experiences of him, who was tempted in all points 
like as we are. 

To be exposed to the gaze of the soldiers, the judges, 
the noble citizens, and the vulgar multitude, was a pecu- 
liar, and almost daily, trial of the early Christians. In- 
deed, in every age, those who live as strangers and pil- 
grims must be objects of remark. As a foreigner in his 
native costume is annoyed in our streets by the rude 
gaze of the populace ; so the Christian is a foreigner ; 
his speech betrayeth him to be a man of " another coun- 
try," and as he passes along tlie walk of hfe, he is looked 
at with inquiring astonishment, " Who can this be that 
differs from us? What is he that presumes to think 
and act on principles opposed to ours?'' He is therefore 
stared at, first as a wonder, and next as an object of 
contempt. And the humble, modest Christian, who de- 
sires to slip through the world unnoticed, finds himself 
set forth as a gazing stock, Heb. x. 35. The bitterness 
of his wounded feelings obtains no rehef, till the Spirit 
the Comforter bring to his remembrance what his Lord 
endured, and enables him tp count it a privilege to be 



166 THE INSULTING GAZE. 

thus admitted to the fellowship of his Master's suffer- 
ings. 

Meditate frequently, O Christian, on the various trials 
by which your Master was exercised. Contemplate them 
with minute attention. Select first one, and then an- 
other, of his peculiar sorrows, till each of them succes- 
sively obtains full consideration. A little sharp expe- 
rience in thine own person will forward thy progress 
materially in this learning. When thou art brought to 
say, '• My heart is wounded within me," — " my soul is 
exceedingly filled with scorning and contempt," — " The 
proud have had me greatly in derision," thou shalt be 
able to enter more fully into communion with a despised 
and derided Master. Regard, then, your severest trials 
as important lessons. Count it a high privilege to be 
admitted into the sacred sanctuary of the Saviour's sym- 
pathy. Be often there. Sit in the silence of heart-felt 
grief at the feet of " The Man of Sorrows." Set his 
wounds and thine own sins fully before thee. Meditate 
on all thou learnest by the Scriptures he endured for 
thee. Let thine imagination picture, as vividly as it 
may, the " unknown sorrows and sufferings felt by him, 
but not distinctly known by thee,""" till with increased 
gratitude, and inflamed affections thou dost "feel the 
strong attractive power lifting thy soul above," and thou 
art able to say from the heart : — 

Jesus, I my cross have taken, 

All to leave and follow thee ; 
Naked, poor, despised, forsaken, 

Thou from hence my all shalt be : 
Perish ev'ry fond ambition, 

All I've sought, or hop'd, or known ; 
Yet how rich is my condition, 

God and heaven are still my owii. 

* Litany of the Greek Church. 



THE INSULTING GAZE. 167 

Let tlie world despise and leave me ; 

They have left my Saviour too ; 
Human hearts and looks deceive me ; 

Thou art not, like them, untrue ; 
And whilst thou shalt smile upon me, 

God of wisdom, love and might, 
Foes may hate, and friends may scorn me, 

Show thy face, and all is bright. 

Go then, earthly fame and tresisure, 

Come disaster, scorn, and pain. 
In thy service, pain is pleasure. 

With thy favour, loss is gain. 
I have called thee Abba, Father ; 

I have set my heart on thee : 
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather, 

All must work for good to me. 

Man may trouble and distress me, 

'Twill but drive me to thy breast ; 
Life with trials hard may press me, 

Heav'n will bring me sweeter rest. 
Oh ! 'tis not in grief to harm me. 

While thy love is left to me ; 
Oh ! 'twere not in joy to charm me. 

Were that joy unmix'd with thee. 

Soul, then, know thy full salvation ; 

Rise o'er sin, and fear, and care ; 
Joy to find in ev'ry station 

Something still to do, or bear. 
Think what Spirit dwells within thee. 

Think what Father's smiles are thine, 
Think that Jesus died to save thee. 

Child of heaven, canst thou repine ? 

Heiste thee on from grace to glory, 

Arm'd by faith, and wing'd by prayer, 
Heaven's eternal day's before thee, 

God's own hand shall guide thee there 
Soon shall close thy earthly mission, 

Soon shall p£iss thy pilgrim days, 
Hope shall change to glad fruition. 

Faith to sight, and prayer to praise 



THE PARTITION OF THE GARMENTS, 



CASTING OF THE LOT. 



Verse 18. — They part my garments among them, and cast lots 
upon my vesture. 

The exactj and minutej fulfilment of the words of 
Scripturej prove them to have been written by none 
other than the hand of God. Not one word falleth to 
the ground. Turning to the Gospel of John, chap, xix., 
how literally is the prophecy of this verse fulfilled ! With 
what emphasis does the apostle add, " These things, there- 
fore^ the soldiers did !" " Then the soldiers, when they 
had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four 
parts, to every soldier a part : and also his coat : now 
the coat was without seam, woven from the top through- 
out. They said therefore among themselves. Let us not 
rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be : that the 
Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith. They parted 
my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did 
cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did/' John 
xix. 23, 24. 

The raiment with which our blessed Lord was clothed, 
and the coat, rather the tunic, the garment worn next 
the skin, corresponding to the shirt of the present times, 
were thus seized. He was stripped of all. The cruel 
mockers exposed him naked to his enemies. All cruci- 
fied persons were treated in this ignominious manner. 
And we may readily conclude that not a single indig- 
nity would be spared that could cast contempt and 



THE PARTITION OF THE GARMENTS, ETC. 169 

shame, on him who was regarded as worse than the 
vilest of malefactors. — See Cahnet^ Cross. 

These words of John narrate the occupation of the 
soldiers. When the three crosses were firmly erected in 
their sockets, the active duty of the several executioners 
terminated, and " sitting down they watched them there." 
Each now was eager to obtain the usual perquisite of 
office, the clothing of the condemned. The miserable 
thieves perhaps had little to leave. Nothing is said re- 
garding them. But our blessed Lord had been appro, 
hended in his usual apparel. The soldiers now seize 
upon it. He allows them to do so. There are four sol- 
diers. They make four parts, and divide to every soldier 
a part. The tunic is not included in this division, It 
is kept by itself, for ^- the coat was without seam, woven 
from the top throughout." This is recorded as if it were 
not a very common garment. Neither was it. The 
soldiers therefore envied its possession. They each de- 
sired to obtain it. This covetous disposition was over- 
ruled by Providence. That God who causeth even the 
wrath of man to praise him, is able to make all his other 
passions to subserve his high purposes. This apparently 
insignificant action, becomes a strong argument for the 
truth of Scripture to the end of time. 

That well-wrought vesture was doubtless an accept- 
able garment to the Lord. He would not have it torn. 
Its seamless unity had wrapped his spotless body. It 
was well suited to One who, like itself, was a perfect 
w^hole. It was not of many colours like t-hat of Joseph 
— a gaudy assemblage of many hues and patches. It 
hung upon our Lord, as the church ought ever, a seam- 
less thing of one uniform shade. Perhaps it was the 
cherished gift of some pious disciple. Tradition says it 
was his mother's present. Such works were peculiar to 
women in those times. Their book then was the loom : 

15 



170 THE PARTITION OF THE GARMENTS, 



their pencil the needle. Christianity raises woman in 
the scale of being, and invites her to sit at the Master's 
feet equally with man. And woman's heart is grateful. 
The house of God witnesses to her piety, more frequently 
than to that of man. The associations of benevolence 
prosper through her instrumentality. She both occupies, 
and adorns, that position to which the religion of Jesus 
has called her. Gratefully attached as we behold her 
to the cause of Christ, now that he is in heaven, woman 
was equally so to his person when on earth. This seam- 
less tunic had been wrought by some fair and skilful 
hand. The receiver of a robe of righteousness, might 
well return the present of a seamless garment ! Fit em- 
blem of grace and gratitude ! 

What a picture of a sinner's surety did Jesus on the 
cross of Calvary present ! Not a shade, not a stroke 
was wanting !* It was a perfect picture — a complete 
personification of the curse ! The crown of thorns was 
round his brow ; it formed his emblematic title, " King 
OF THE CURSE !" His blcsscd body was exposed to view. 
Our first parents hid their nakedness amongst the trees 
of the garden ; but Jesus hung exposed upon a tree, and 
suflTered the shame of the curse. His hands and feet 
were nailed to the wood, he was transfixed immovably 
by the power of the curse. Opprobrious taunts and 
dreadful imprecations were heaped upon his head ; he 
lasted the bitterness of the curse. The light of 
his Father's countenance was withdrawn from him, and 
he endured the horrors of the curse. Behold this 
double picture — the transparent representation of the 
Curse and the Redemption ! Gaze upon it with awe 
and love, with gratitude and veneration ! Christ is dy- 
ing under your curse, and yet scattering blessings round 
him ! O take them ! Receive the gracious exchange ! 
Exclaim with the apostle, "Christ hath redeemed us 



AND CASTING OF THE LOT. 171 

from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us," 
Gal. iii. 13 ; and gratefully exult with the prophet, and 
say, " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord ; my soul shall 
be joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed me Avith the 
garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe 
of righteousness," Isa. Ixi. 10. 

The apparently trifling act, of casting the lot for this 
vesture of our Lord, is most significant. It contains a 
double lesson. It teaches us how greatly that seamless? 
shirt was valued ; how little he to whom it had belonged. 
It seemed to say, This garment is more valuable than 
its owner. As it was said of the thirty pieces of silver, 
"a goodly price at which I was prized at of them ;" so 
may we say regarding the casting of the lot, '' How 
cheaply Christ was held !'' The casting of the lot is at 
all times a solemn matter. It is man's appeal to some- 
thing above and beyond his own judgment and his own 
will ; he postpones the decision of reason ; he suspends 
the determination of his own judgment ; he divests him- 
self, for a time, of that which constitutes him a rational 
and intelligent being ; he ceases to act as a man, and 
stands forth as a creature of perplexity, that looks to 
some other power,- or being, to decide for him. Who is 
that being? what is that power? Those who use the 
I'ot alone can tell. The pious Jews of old who had re- 
course to it by Divine command, answer, "It is the 
Lord.*' " The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole dis- 
posing thereof is of the Lord," Prov. xvi. 33. Therefore 
Saul said unto the Lord God of Israel, " Give a perfect 
lot,'' and Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the peo- 
ple escaped, 1 Sam. xiv. 41. The holy apostles of the 
ascended Saviour answer, " It is the Lord." '^And they 
prayed and said, Thou Lord, which knowest the hearts 
of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen. 
And they gave forth their lots ; and the lot fell upon 



172 THE PARTITION OF THE GARMENTS, 

Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles " 
Acts i. 24 — 26. The perplexed Christian answers, " It 
is the Lord." " I pray earnestly for his direction, and I 
abide satisfied with his decision." But the worldly man, 
w^hen using the lot, positively refuses to give this reply. 
On important occasions, where his interests are at stake, 
he prudently repudiates the lot ; but where matters are 
nearly on a balance, or where trifles, or amusements only, 
are concerned, he feels no hesitation to employ the lot, 
because the results are unimportant. Inquire of him, 
" What is it that decides ? what intelligence acts when you 
lay aside your own ?" Whatever reply he may make in an 
affirmative form, this we may expect to hear in the neg- 
ative, " It is not the Lord ; I had no reference whatever 
to the Supreme Being when thus engaged." So decided 
are multitudes in this opinion, that they deem it a pro- 
fanity to entertain the idea that God can be concerned in 
such a matter, but at the same time they admit that 
there must be something which settles the point ; some 
power, or some nonentity of power, which conducts the 
uncertainty to certainty. To this they give the name of 
CHANCE. Of all words in human language that 
mean nothing, this is the most significant — the most em- 
phatically 7iothing. The Scriptures repudiate it ; moral- 
ists, philosophers, all thinking men, disown it. Chance 
is not reckoned a material thing, and if it belong to the 
spiritual world, in which class is it to be ranked ? Judg- 
ment has been already given, that it is not the Lord ; 
therefore, neither can it be any of the angelic powers, for 
they are all his servants, and engage in no work but at 
his bidding. It must, therefore, be counted amongst 
the spirits of evil, and consequently to be dreaded rather 
than courted. Chance is, indeed, but another name for 
Satan : and it makes one shudder to think, that in the 
casting of their lots, the throwing of their dice, and the 



AND CASTING OF THE LOT. 173 

shuffling of their cards, men abandon their own reason, 
and submit to be guided from uncertainty, to certainty, 
from the unknown commencement of their game to its 
definite conclusion, by the great enemy of their souls. 
Therefore,' let all Christians abominate these practices ; 
let them cast the evil instruments of such games out of 
their houses. If they be so ignorant as not to know 
how to spend their time to better purpose, let them oc- 
cupy their hands in works of charity, or peruse the 
writings of wisdom, or engage each other in edifying con- 
versation. They bear sad testimony against themselves, 
when they reply that if they leave off these amusements, 
they shall fall into something worse. Unhappy inhabi- 
tants of the earth ! Is necessity laid on you to pass only 
from one evil to another ? Are you doomed to no other 
motion than that which is retrograde ? 

God^s order is that of progress and advancement ; his 
word enjoins us to rise from one degree of usefulness to 
another. It is our privilege, as it is our duty, to abound 
in good works ; to redeem the time because the days are 
evil ; and " whether we eat or drink, or whatsoever we 
do, to do aU to the glory of God." The whole universe 
of obedient beings, are going forward with their glorious 
Head. The path of eternity opens before them with 
new objects, and renewed powers, of light, beneficence, 
and love. The descending scale is trodden only by the 
disobedient. They sink deeper and deeper into everlast- 
ing darkness; and the moral distance between them 
and the children of Ught is eternally increasing. Covet, 
then, earnestly the best, the most useful life. Let a heav- 
enly ambition animate your breast. Seek for glory and 
honour, as well as immortality, Rom. ii. 7. Refuse the 
fleeting pleasure of an hour, the favour of a worldly com- 
pany, for the joys that never fade, and the approbation 
of the King of heaven. 

15* 



t 

174 THE PARTITION OF THE GARMENTS, ETC. 

Though the lot be thus abused ia heathen and Chris- 
tian countries, yet we must remember that its right and 
proper use has obtained the sanction of the God of truth. 
When, therefore, it is employed by the true Christian in a 
spirit of faith, and when circumstances absolutely require 
it, he may assure his conscience that he is not out of the 
path of duty. But he must also bear in mind, how diffi- 
cult it is to determine the times and seasons. We are all 
apt to be misled by secret motives and partialities. In- 
stead of a choice entirely free, there is too generally a lean- 
ing towards one side. The majority of Christians, there- 
fore, will find the use of the lot, rather a snare, than a 
help, to them, in their progress through life. Almost un- 
consciously to ourselves, we may be desiring to have 
recourse to the lot only to escape our proper responsibility. 
This is a dangerous state of mind. It directly tempts the 
Most High. He discerns the lurking thought, and will 
not sanction it with his blessing. He has given us Rea- 
son as a monitor, the Word of Truth as a lamp, and has 
promised the Holy Spirit to be our teacher and guide. 
Why, then, should we close our ear to unerring instruc- 
tion ? It may be permitted to those who are '' strong in 
faith," and perplexed in extremity of contradicting cir- 
cumstances, to have recourse with humble earnest prayer 
to the lot, as th-eir only remaining door of deliverance 
from difficulty and dilemma ; but Scriptures furnishes a 
safer, and a better, rule ; and accompanies it with a gra- 
cious promise from the Lord, when it gives this injunc- 
tion, " In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall 
direct thy paths," Prov. iii. 6. 



THE IMPORTUNITY. 



Verses 19— "^l.-— But be not thou far from me, O Lord: O my 
strength^ haste thee to kelp me. Deliver my soul from the 
sword : my darling from the power of the dog. Save me 
from the lion^s mouth ; for thou hast heard me from the horns 
of the unicorns. Or, Save me from the lion^s moicth^ and from 
the horns of the unicorns. 

The intensity of the Saviour's anguish, and earnest- 
ness of his spirit, in the garden of Gethsemane, are as 
strikingly denoted by his actions as by his words. A 
strong and overpowering agitation is evident in every 
movement. He came and went between God and his 
disciples; his prayei*s were intensely brief; they were 
offered at intervals ; they were thrice repeated ; he be- 
sought his chosen friends, saying, ^^ Watch with me ;" 
he retired ; he prayed ; he rose from his knees in the 
unutterable fulness of his sorrow ; he came to his sleep- 
ing disciples ; he exclaimed, " What ! could ye not watch 
with me one hour ?"' Matt. xxvi. 40 ; he returned again 
to the throne of grace ; he cast himself upon the ground ; 
his burdened, almost bursting heart, could only say the 
same words as before — grief had dried up the streams 
of thought, the flow of words, into one only channel ; 
hul even that he did not stay to use. His spirit was dis- 
quieted ; he had no rest ; again he rose from prayer ; 
again he returned to his disciples — still no sympathy, 
they w^ere all asleep ; to them also he spake nearly in 
the same terms ; they wist not what to say — silence was 
the only answer he obtained from God and men. " And 
he left them and went away again, and prayed the third 



176 THE IMPORTUNITY. 

time, saying the same words," Matt. xxvi. 44. His agony 
increased ; a bloody sweat burst from every pore ; great 
drops fell to the ground. He prayed more earnestly, yet 
still used the same words ; probably he now ejaculated 
some of them more than once, and accompanied each 
burdened word with intervals of heavy groaning, many 
tears, and strong cries, Heb. v. 7. His perseverance and 
importunity prevailed ; an angel from heaven appeared 
to him ; he felt strengthened with an assurance that his 
petition was heard ; he rose from prayer calm and self- 
possessed ; the agitation was gone ; he could now ap- 
proach his disciples, and compassionately say, " Sleep on 
now, and take your rest." 

While hanging on the cross on Calvary, our Lord 
obtained deliverance, in like manner, by the power of 
prayer. Though forsaken, he did not cease to claim 
affiance wdth an absent Father ; though all w^as dark 
and silent, yet he still cried, and prayed, and interceded. 
As he bowed submissively in the garden, so did he jus- 
tify God upon the cross ; " Thou turnest from me ; thou 
art silent, but thou art holy," was his immediate acknow- 
ledgment. When sore beset by spiritual foes, Avhen his 
attention was, as it were, distracted by the maHce of 
men, he returned instantly again to supplication. When 
obliged to listen to their taunts, when cut to the heart 
by their reproach, that God would not acknowledge him, 
he became only more earnest in his appeal, more deter- 
mined in his grasp of faith, and said, " But thou art my 
God from my mother's belly." When exquisitely tor- 
mented by the aching, quivering, pierced, flesh, he turned 
away from the wicked instruments, and recognized the 
hand of his Father in it all, saying, " Thou hast brought 
me into the dust of death." Yet this, instead of driving 
him further in heart from God, made him press more 
intensely in spirit towards him. As it were, with a holy 



THE IMPORTUNITY. 177 

violence of importunity, that would take no denial, he 
cried as in these verses, " Be not Thou far from me, O 
Lord ; O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver 
my soul from the sword ; my darUng from the power of 
the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth, and from the 
horns of the unicorns." 

In this powerful and importunate appeal to his Fa- 
ther, it is remarkable to observe in what new forms our 
Lord presents his former petitions. Necessity invents 
arguments, and renders the dumb eloquent. ^' Though 
we cannot answer God's logic, yet, with the woman of 
Samaria, w^e hope to prevail with the rhetoric of impor- 
tunity."* Our blessed Saviour still earnestly desired that 
same blessing of his Father's presence, for which he had 
been pleading from the commencement of this psalm. 
His heart was fully set in him to seek after this ; there- 
fore, he never wearied or grew faint. He is at no loss 
for words, appellations, or arguments. In the compass 
of three short verses, he not only repeats the substance 
of all that he had said before, in reference to himself, his 
enemies, and his Father, but he redoubles appellatives to 
each, and interjects cogent and powerful appeals for de- 
liverance. He addresses his Father by two new names, 
" O Lord," and " O my strength ;" he prays for himself 
under two new terms, '• my soul," and " my darling." 
His enemies, whom he had before compared to the bull, 
the dog, and the lion, he now further sets forth under 
two new images, ^^ the sword," and " the horns of the 
unicorns." At the same time, he throws the whole ear- 
nestness of his soul into the four accompanying brief, 
but rapid, urgent, and vehement entreaties : " Be not far 
from me — haste to help me — deliver my soul — save me." 
This is the strong crying by which our Lord, as it were, 
lays hold of, and casts himself upon, the heart of his 
* Bacon's Christian Paradoxes. 



178 THE IMPORTUNITY. 

Father. He calls him " Lord," or Jehovah, the self- 
existent being, who is, what he is, in and of himself, al- 
together independent of the created universe, Exod. iii. 
14. It is as if he would say, ^* I am changed as a man ; 
my circumstances, my feelings, are different to what they 
ever were before ; I am dying ; but thou art the living 
Lord, the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. I will, 
therefore, forget myself and my sad circumstances in 
thinking of thee, O unchangeable Jehovah." Having 
thus stated what his Father is in himself, he next fast- 
ens his faith on an appropriate point in that relationship 
which subsisted between them, and calls him " My 
strength." Christ possessed almighty power in his own 
person, but for our sakes he refused to use it. He lived 
not upon himself, but upon his God. His own resources 
he would not employ, but rather those of his Father, that 
to him might redound all the glory. His own power he 
exhibited in prayer, but his Father's power in perform- 
ance. At his apprehension, when comforting the hearts 
of his disciples, he might with truth have said, '' Think 
ye that I cannot now command the angels to destroy 
this multitude ?" But Jesus never sought his own glory ; 
therefore his words were, " Think ye that I cannot now 
pray to my Father^ and he will give me more than 
twelve legions of angels ?" Here, hkewise, in his last 
importunate cry, our Lord appeals to his Father as his 
strength ; as one without whom he could and would 
do nothing ; as one who must do all for him, or he must 
remain as he is. 

Secondly, Our Lord's description of himself is two- 
fold, and in nearly synonymous terms, " my soul," and 
"my darling." This latter term is employed also in 
another psalm to denote the soul, " Rescue my soul from 
their destructions : my darling from the lions," Psa. xxxv. 
17. Restoration of the soul to spiritual life and joy in 



THE IMPORTUNITY. 179 

tne favour and presence of God, and not the life of the 
body, or its preservation from suffering and death, is the 
great subject of our Lord's petitions. He thus teaches 
us to set our hearts on that only which is of chief im- 
portance. He shows us where importunity shall neither 
be unwarranted nor unavailing. The soul is the great 
object of concern ; it is the darhng ; the pearl of inesti- 
mable worth. If this be lost, all is lost. Therefore 
Christ, by the hand of faith, deposits his most precious 
human soul in his Father's care. He is here speaking 
as the firstling of that " flock," of which he declares that 
no man can pluck one out of his Father's hand, John 
X. 29. He places his soul, his darling, his united one, 
that immaterial and indestructible part of the human 
nature which he had taken into union with himself, in 
the care of his Father's omnipotence ; and earnestly ap- 
peals to him to deliver it. 

Thirdly, The images employed to represent our Lord's 
enemies are "the sword," and " the horned unicorns." 
Each of these new figures, denotes the piercing nature 
of those sufferings, which he was now enduring. The 
" sword," may be understood of the " wicked," which are 
" God's sword," Psa. xvii. 13. But we may also consider 
it as denoting " the curse." The powerful word of the 
Almighty is represented in Scripture under the figure of 
a "sword ;" see Eph. vi. 17 ; Matt. x. 34 ; Rev. i. 16. 
The sword of the curse, denounced against every dis- 
obedience of the law, had, as it were, been kept in abey- 
ance, and had never fallen on the head of sinful man. 
That sword had not been drawn from its scabbard. It 
had slept for four thousand years ; but now the Surety of 
sinners was come ; he, on whom the curse should light, 
was hanging on the tree ; therefore, the rousing call is 
made, "Awake, O sword, against my Shepherd, and 
against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of 



180 THE IMPORTUNITY. 

Hosts : smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scat- 
tered/' Zech. xiii. 7. Christ, the good Shepherd, was 
now smitten. '' He gave his life for the sheep ;*' but 
while he resigned his body to death, he deprecated the 
piercing, separating power of the " sword^ of the curse 
upon his soul. The '^ horns of the unicorns!'^ This 
figure denotes indomitable power and energy ; and such 
is the characteristic of the unicorn, or horned rhinoceros. 
The terms here used, depict the greatest extremity of 
danger. Like a man w^ho already felt the horn of the 
savage animal, who was actually being pierced, who was 
even now transfixed by its sharp and tearing point, 
Christ prays for deliverance from the terrible power and 
nearness of his enemies. 

The other appellations given to his persecutors are the 
'•dog," and the "lion." The latter is a well known 
scriptural emblem of Satan, the great enemy and de- 
stroyer of the soul. The occurrence of this figure, 
throughout this, and other psalms, shows that the roar- 
ing lion, against whom we require to watch, was prowl- 
ing around the cross of Christ, seeking to devour and 
destroy one who yet efiectually resisted him, stedfast in 
the faith, 1 Pet. v. 8, 9. 

The brief but expressive petitions which our Lord em- 
ploys, are extremely importunate. The first unbosoms 
the uppermost desire of his soul, " Be not far from me." 
God's presence constitutes the deliverance which he de- 
sires : this is the only species of relief and comfort which 
he will accept ; therefore, he presses that it may be no 
longer delayed, ^' Haste to help me." He urges his 
Father with earnestness ; he feels that the time is come 
for the dismissal of his spirit ; he cannot bear the thought 
of breathing it out under desertion — in darkness and dis- 
tress ; he therefore cries, " deliver my soul ;" and to ex- 
press still further the extremity of misery, and, as it were, 



THE IMPORTUNITY. 181 

danger in which he was placed, he represents the jaws 
of the devourer, as akeady opened for his instant de- 
struction, and cries, " Save me from the Ron's mouth." 

Having thus considered the importunity of our great 
High Priest, when he " oifered up prayers and suppHca- 
tions with strong crying and tears," Heb. v. 7, let us im- 
prove the subject, Christian readers, to our own practical 
and spiritual benefit. Let us inquire, first, whether; 
secondly, on what grounds ; and thirdly, to what extent, 
guilty creatures like us may use urgency in prayer be- 
fore the great God. 

First, Is it allowable ? To this we must answer in 
the affirmative. Sinful and fallen as we are, the word 
of God fully warrants us to speak to him in prayer, not 
only in the most unreserved, but also in the most impor- 
tunate, manner. For it is commanded, our Saviour en- 
courages it. Scripture furnishes examples, and its ab- 
sence is complained of 

First, it is commanded. ^^ Ye that make mention of 
the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest," Isa. 
Ixii. 6, 7. ^' Put me in remembrance ; let us plead to- 
gether ; declare thou, that thou mayest be justified," Isa. 
Ixiii. 26. " Come now, and let us reason together, saith 
the Lord," Isa. i. 18. ^'Let us therefore come boldly 
unto the throne of grace," Heb. iv. 16. 

Secondly, our Saviour encouraged it. '^ The kingdom 
of heaven sufFereth violence, and the violent take it by 
force," Matt. xi. 12. ^' Strive, (agonize,) to enter in at 
the strait gate," Luke xiii. 24. " Ask, and seek, and 
knock," Matt. vii. 7. He spake a parable to this end^ 
that men ought always to pray, and not to faint ; that 
parable was concerning a widow, who by continual 
coming wearied an unjust judge to decide her cause, 
Luke xviii. 1. And on another occasion, when expressly 
teaching his disciples to pray, he employed the simili- 

16 



182 THE IMPORTUNITY. 

tude of one friend beg-ging a loan of bread from another 
at the unseasonable hour of midnight, and argues thus, 
^^ I say unto you, though he will not rise and give him 
because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity 
he will rise and give him as many as he needeth ;" and 
then practically applying it to the subject of his instruc- 
tion, he added, " And I say unto you. Ask, and it shall 
be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it 
shall be opened unto you," Luke xi. 1 — 13. All ex- 
hortations to importunity are accompanied by most gra- 
cious encouragements. " Let us reason together ; your 
sins shall be as white as snow," Isa. i. 18. '- 1 am he 
that blotteth out thy transgressions : put me in remem- 
brance ; let us plead together," Isa. xliii. 25, 26. Even 
the saddest of all announcements, " Your iniquities have 
separated between you and your God, and your sins 
have hid his face from you, that he will not hear," is im- 
aiediately preceded by a most seasonable and encourag- 
ing statement, '^ Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, 
that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot 
hear ;" and even though the sins and the evil condition 
of the people are fully stated in that chapter, yet it is 
added that " the Lord wondered that there was no inter- 
cessor," Isa lix. 1, 2, 16. 

Thirdly, Scripture furnishes examples. James as- 
sures us that '- the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous 
man availeth much ;" and yet at the same time informs 
us that '^ the righteous man" whom he instances, '• was 
subject to like passions as we are." " Elias prayed ear- 
nestly that it might not rain, and it rained not for three 
years and six months ; and he prayed again, and the 
heavens gave rain," James v. 16, 18. The patriarchs 
were remarkable for their power and fervency in prayer. 
Abraham entreated the Lord for Sodom, till he trembled 
at his own importunity. Had he only persevered in his 



THE IMPORTUNITY. 



183 



intercession to the very last, the cities might have been 
spared for a httle longer ; for the Lord patiently heard, 
granted every petition as it was offered, and departed not 
till Abraham intimated that he should ask no more, Gen. 
xviii. 32, 33. 

Jacob was honoured of God with the new and hon- 
ourable name of Israel, because he wrestled in prayer, 
till he prevailed. Though the angel said, " Let me go," 
in the vehemency of his spirit he replied, " I will not 
let thee go, except thou bless me," Gen. xxxii. 24. 

Moses interceded with great urgency, for the children 
of Israel. He was alone in the mount with God, and 
beheld the divine wrath, ready to break forth. Though 
commanded to go down ; though a promise was given 
to make of him a greater and mightier nation : yet he 
continued pleading with such earnestness and impor- 
tunity, that the Lord said, " Let me alone, that I may 
destroy them," Exod. xxxii. 10 ; Deut. ix. 14. 

Daniel increased in importunity, as he proceeded in 
his beautiful and instructive prayer. He obtained an 
immediate answer when his petitions became thus ve- 
hement and pressing, " O Lord, hear ; O Lord, forgive ; 
O Lord, hearken and do ; defer not, for thine own sake, 
O my God," Dan. ix. 19. 

In the gospels we read how the Syrophenician woman 
prevailed with our Lord by the power of her importunity, 
and obtained that blessing for her daughter which other- 
wise she should not have enjoyed. She earnestly be- 
sought him, but he answered her not a word. She fell at 
his feet, but he turned away and passed on. His own dis- 
ciples entreated him on her behalf, because she cried after 
them ; but he informed them that his commission was 
only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Still came 
the woman and worshipped him, saying, " Lord, help 
me." But he answered, "It is not meet to take the 



184 THE IMPORTUNITY. 

children's bread, and to cast it to dogs." With an ear- 
nestness which nothing" could abate, and a faith which 
no objection could stagger, she at once admitted the truth 
of what he said, and converted it into an argument in 
her own favour, " Yes, Lord : yet the dogs under the 
table eat of the children's crumbs." Then Jesus ex- 
claimed, '' O woman, great is thy faith : be it unto thee 
even as thou wilt," Matt. xv. 22—28 ; Mark vii. 25—30. 

Fourthly, Its absence is complained of. When the 
prophet confesses the great wickedness of the people, that 
all were as an unclean thing, that even all their righte- 
ousnesses were as filthy rags, and that God had hid his 
face from them, and consumed them because of their 
iniquities, even then he complains, " There is none that 
calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take 
hold of thee ;" and immediately sets himself with great 
earnestness to intercessory prayer, Isa. Ixiv. 

In various other parts of Scripture the same complaint 
is expressed or implied, " Thou hast not called upon me, 
O Jacob ; thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. Put 
me in remembrance ; let us plead together," Isa. xliii. 22, 
26. "I sought for a man among them, that should 
make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for 
the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none," 
Ezek. xxii. 30. " He saw that there was no man ; and 
he wondered that there was no intercessor," Isa. hx. 16 ; 
see also Isa. ix. 13 ; xxxi. 1 ; Jer. x. 21, 25 ; Zeph. i. 6 ; 
Isa. xli. 28. 

It is recorded against Asa that in his disease he sought 
not to the Lord, but to the physicians, 2 Chron. xvi. 12 ; 
and it is assigned as the reason of Rehoboam's doing 
evil, "because he prepared (or fixed) not his heart to 
seek the Lord," 2 Chron. xii. 14. 

Hosea testifies that the wickedness of the people was 
highly aggravated by their restraining prayer in their 



THE IMPORTUNITY. 185 

afflictions. ^- They have not cried unto me, when they 
howled upon their beds," vii. 14 ; also verses 7 and 10. 
With the same earnestness and vehemency, with which 
they vociferated their distresses, so ought they to have 
called upon their God. But because they refused to do 
so, the Most High determined, " I will go and return to 
my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek 
my face : in their affliction they will seek me early," 
chap. v. 15. 

Amos also specifies this as a peculiar feature of the 
prevailing depravity. He enumerates the various judg- 
ments by which God had visited the nation ; and five 
times successively adds, to each||^ them, " Yet have ye 
not returned unto me, saith the Lord," chaps, iv. vi. viii. 
ix. X. xi. He complains also that there is none to raise 
up the fallen virgin of Israel ; yet affectionately entreats 
them still to seek the Lord, and twice encourages them 
with the assurance that, if they do so, they shall live, 
chap. V. 2, 4, 6. 

Were we to enter more into God's feehngs as a father, 
and think of his eye resting on this broad earth, where so 
many millions of his creatures are too earnest and busy to 
remember him, we should be better able to understand his 
complaint of the restraining of prayer, and his delight 
in those who acknowledge him. Oh how little is God 
accustomed to hear the voice of earnest, heart-felt, perse- 
vering prayer ! How continually does the Lord witness 
our anxieties and exertions spent in vain attempts to ex- 
tricate ourselves, and effect that deliverance which he is 
able in a moment to grant in answer to prayer. Men 
may be brought to their wit's end, and never think of 
calling upon God ; yet if, even then, they cry unto the 
Lord, he will bring them out of their distresses, Psa. 
cvii. 27, 28. In every circumstance and trial of life — 
whether in extremity of homeless wandering, of poverty 

16* 



186 THE IMPORTUNITY. 

and hunger, ver. 5 ; in prison and cruel bondage, ver. 
10, 14 ; in disease, pining sickness, and when at the 
point of death, ver. 18 ; on the stormy deep and in the 
threatening tempest, ver. 25 ; or when vegetation fails, 
and famine feeds on once fruitful fields, ver. 34, 38 ; let 
men but then turn to the Lord with strong crying and 
tears in all these calamities, and they shall find that he 
is very pitiful and of tender mercy, James v. 11. 
Whoso is wise, and will observe the various turnings of 
this changeful hfe, shall learn from them all, the lovhig- 
kindness of the Lord, Psa. cvii. 43. Hezekiah's prayer 
was answered when he wept sore, Isa. xxxviii. 3, 5. 
Even the wicked A^j^ was pitied, when he humbled 
himself before the Lord, 1 Kings xxi. 27 — 29. And 
the idolatrous Ninevites were accepted, when they cried 
mightily unto God, Jonah iii. 8 — 10. Let not, then, the 
greatest of your earthly trials, or even the remembrance 
of your foulest sins, shut up your heart in despondency, 
or prevent you from confessing your guilt, bewailing 
your condition, and fervently, and perseveringly, implor- 
ing mercy from the Father of mercies. 

Secondly, If it be allowable, nay, a commanded duty, 
for sinners to approach the God of heaven in prayer, with 
importunate petitions, we must next inquire. On what 
grounds 7 First, we answer, it must not be on the 
ground of any claim which we possess to mercy, or of 
any merit which our penitence, or tears, or prayers, can 
furnish. Full consciousness of unworthiness produces 
a sorrow which, however great, can never be more than 
just. We must be entirely driven out of that all confi- 
dence in ourselves ; be brought to see that we deserve 
only ruin and condemnation ; and so be taught to cast 
ourselves simply on the clemency and goodness of Jeho- 
vah. Instead of extenuating our guilt, and using mild 
and softening terms, we will ingenuously confess all its 



THE IMPORTUNITY. 187 

aggravations, and cast the multitude of our sins upon 
the immeasurable mercies of the Most High ; we will 
use this extraordinary, but prevailing argument, *' Par- 
don my iniquity, for it is great," Psa. xxv. 11. Second- 
ly, it must be solely ori the ground of God's mere mercy 
and goodness. Leaving ourselves wholly to his dispo- 
sal ; acknov/ledging that though the severest judgments 
come forth against us, they are only what we deserve ; 
we must cast our care on the heart of a Father, saying 
with David, •• I am in a great strait ; let me fall now 
into the hand of the Lord, for very great are his mer- 
cies," 1 Chron. xxi. 13. This is what the Ninevites did. 
And never was an appeal made to the heart of God, 
without success. 

But, thirdly, the Divine mercy has been revealed only 
in Christ Jesus. That sacrifice which satisfied the jus- 
tice, has fully exhibited the goodness, of God. The Lord 
has come forth to man, in a full, but peculiar measure, 
of mercy. He who would approach his Creator, over- 
looking the atonement and propitiation by the blood of 
Jesus, is guilty of despising that very way which he pro- 
fesses to seek. " There is none other name under hea- 
ven, given among men, whereby we must be saved," but 
the name of Jesus Christ, Acts iv. 12. It was therefore 
with earnest care that our Lord instructed his disciples 
to present all their prayers to God, " in his name," John 
xvi. 23, 24. This expression signifies for his sake, and 
on his authority. Too commonly it is limited to the for- 
mer sense. But our gracious Redeemer means that we 
should apply to the treasury of heaven, as beggars would 
at a bank, in the name of an individual whose credit is 
unlimited. Having taken the bankrupt name, he gives 
us his own instead. Therefore the apostle exhorts us to 
" do all in the name of the Lord Jesus," Col. iii. 17. " To 
give thanks always for all things in the name of the Lord 



188 " THE IMPORTUNITY. 

Jesus Christ,'' Eph. v. 20. And our Lord assures us, 
" Whatever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will 
give it you," John xvi. 23. 

It is, then, on the ground of our Surety's merits, that 
we must present all our petitions. The very fact of the 
existence of a surety, a gratuitously provided surety, 
proves the goodness of the great Creditor, in a manner 
which even the immediate discharge of the debt could 
not have demonstrated. We might have supposed, that 
he had easily pardoned that, by which he was no loser. 
But the providing of an atonement, shows that a great 
loss had been suffered by sin ; and the sacrificing of His 
own Son to accomplish that atonement, exhibits God as 
a double loser, in effecting the salvation of man. The 
goodness of God, therefore, stands out to view in mag- 
nificent prominence. We hear it uttered by the loud 
voice from Calvary, with an emphasis that should rouse 
the attention of the dead, and impart eternal stabihty to 
the faith of the living. The goodness of the Divine 
Father, exhibited in the sacrifice of his own Son, is that 
alone to which the Eternal Spirit directs our thoughts j 
on this he fixes our hopes ; here he bids us to cast, with- 
out the shadow of a misgiving or a fear, all our cares 
and anxieties. Therefore the apostle demands, " De- 
spisest thou the riches of his goodness ?" knowest thou 
not that "the goodness of God" is designed to lead thee 
"to repentance?" Rom. ii. 4. Since God, then, has ex 
hibited such love, take heed that you " continue in his 
goodness," Rom. xi. 22. Never allow dark and despair- 
ing thoughts to take possession of your breast. " The 
goodness of God endureth continually," Psa. lii. 1. Let 
your confidence in, and your engagements with, that 
goodness, be therefore in continual exercise. When 
Moses prayed, " Show me thy glory ;" the Lord answer- 
ed, " I will make all my goodness pass before thee," 



THE IMPORTUNITY. 189 

Exodus xxxiii. 19. The glory of God is his goodness. 
When the seraphim praise the high and lofty One, they 
say, " The whole earth is full of his glory ^"^ Isa. vi. 3. 
And when the psalmist would praise him, he exclaims, 
" The earth is full of his goodiiess^^"^ Psa. xxxiii. 5. When 
Paul looks forward to the inheritance above, he denomi- 
nates it, " An exceeding, even an eternal weight of glo- 
ry^'' 2 Cor. iv. 17. And when David expatiates on the 
same enlivening theme, he cries, '• O how great is thy 
goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear 
thee !" Psa. xxxi. 19. 

^' In the divine nature," says a profound writer,* " both 
rehgion and philosophy have acknowledged goodness in 
perfection ; wisdom or providence comprehending all 
things: and absolute sovereignty or kingdom. In as- 
piring to the throne of jiower, angels transgressed and 
fell. In presuming to come within the oracle of knowl- 
edge, man transgressed and fell. But in pursuit towards 
the simihtude of God's goodness, or love, neither man, 
nor spirit, ever hath transgressed, or shall transgress. 
The Devil being an angel of light, affected power. Man 
being endowed with power, affected light or knowledge. 
Intruding into God's secrets or mysteries, he was re- 
warded with a further removing or estranging from 
God's presence. But as to God's goodness there is no 
danger in contending for, or advancing towards, a simili- 
tude thereof. In that point we can commit no excess." 
This leads us. 

Thirdly, to inquire to what extent may a sinner, be- 
ing allowed on these good grounds, proceed in importn- 
nity of prayer ? We answer, he can commit no excess. 
The further he thus proceeds, the greater will the good- 
ness of the Most High appear to him ; the more he trusts 
to it, the more will it uphold him. Importunity in pray- 

* Bacon. 



190 THE IMPORTUNITY. 

er, is a pressing into the goodness of God. Instead d^ 
regarding him as either unwiUing or unable to help, ii 
exhibits him as ready as he is all-powerful. "Them 
that honour me, I will honour." The highest honour 
we can pay to God is to honour him with our confidence. 
Apart from this^ mere outward services are destitute of 
their only acceptable ingredient, the homage of the heart. 
Confidence, then, in the goodness of God, if it exist at 
all, ought to exist in proportion to the amount of his 
goodness. There can be evidently no limit to the meas- 
ure of our trust, except that which is furnished by that 
on which we trust. If that be small, our confidence 
must be small. If that be unlimited, our confidence in 
it ought to be unlimited. See how fully the patriarch 
Job understood the grounds of his confidence, and the un- 
limited extent to which he might, as it were, trespass on the 
goodness of the Lord. '- Oh that I knew where I might 
find him ! that I might come even to his seat ! I would 
order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with ar- 
guments. I would know the words which he would an- 
swer me, and understand what he would say unto me. 
Will he plead against me w^ith his great power ? No ; 
but he would put strength in me. There the righteous 
might dispute with him ; so should I be delivered for 
ever from my judge," Job xxiii. 3 — 7. The " righteous" 
are those who present themselves before God in the im- 
puted righteousness of Christ. All their reasonings and 
arguments are based on the merits of their Surety. 
They wrestle in his name against their sins, their doubts, 
and fears. In his strength they fight against all the 
temptations and evil suggestions of the enemy of their 
souls ; and even when afllicted with desertion and dark- 
ness, when the light of God's countenance is withdrawn, 
they yet stay themselves on a withdrawing God, and 
presume upon that great goodness which, as it gave 



THE IMPORTUNITY. 191 

Christ, will also with him freely give all things, Rom. 
viii. 32. Like the psalmist, he humbly argues with the 
Lord, ^^ What profit is there in my blood when I go 
down to the pit ? shall the dust praise thee, shall it de- 
clare thy truth ?" Psa. xxx. 9. With the prophet also 
he adds, "Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead 
Avith thee ; yet let me talk," or reason the case, " with 
thee of thy judgments," Jer. xii. 1. 

It is then only on the ground of the Saviour's atoning 
sacrifice, that we can either offer the smallest petition, or 
rise to any degree of confidence in presenting it. In using 
the Saviour's name, however, we shall do him great dis- 
honour, if we place not the fullest confidence in his ac- 
ceptance with his Father. Were we invoking the name 
of a saint or an angel, there would be great cause for 
fear and hesitation. But not so when we employ the 
name of God's own and beloved Son. All that God has 
belongs to him ; every thing that God can give, is open 
to his use ; and it proves that we have little confidence 
either in God the Father, or in Christ the Son, when we 
address the one in the name of the other, and yet doubt 
whether a blessing will be given. It may be answered, " I 
do not doubt either God's willingness, or Christ's merits, 
but I doubt my own worthiness to partake of the bene- 
fits of his righteousness ;" we reply. You have no right 
to doubt your own worthiness. You ought to be as pos- 
itively certain of your unworthiness, as you are of your 
own existence. Your worthiness, or unworthiness, is not 
a matter of opinion. It is a revealed truth that you are 
altogether unworthy. The very fact of a provided sure- 
ty-righteousness implies it. And it is with the full con- 
sciousness of your own unworthiness, that we would 
press you to cast yourselves directly upon the surety- 
righteousness, as an all-sufficient and all-prevailing ar- 
gument with God. Again it may be objected, " I nei- 



192 THE IMPORTUNITY. 

ther doubt the goodness of God, nor my own unworthi- 
ness ; but I know not that what I pray for is agreeable 
to the will of God ; how, then, can I be importunate ?" 
This is an important matter. We shall consider the 
things which may be asked in prayer, under three 
heads : — First, those in which the will of God is eter- 
nally and immutably the same. Second, those concern- 
ing which he has revealed his will particularly and ex- 
pressly in the Holy Scriptures. And third, those which 
are circumstantial and personal. In regard to the first 
things, there ought not to exist any doubt in our minds, 
when we pray to God for them. The will of God must 
unchangeably and eternally be fixed on holiness. What- 
ever then is connected with the hallowing of God's name, 
or the sanctification of your own heart, should be the ob- 
ject of your fervent faith, your most ardent prayers. 
The hand of the diligent maketh rich ; holiness is the 
gold of heaven ; and in proportion to your diligence, per- 
severance, and earnestness, in prayer, so will be your in- 
crease in eternal wealth. Secondly, those things which 
God has revealed : as for instance, that his kingdom 
shall come, and that the knowledge of the Lord shall 
cover the earth ; being, with other truths, positively re- 
vealed, there is as little room to doubt regarding their ul- 
timate fulfilment, as there is great room to pray for their 
speedy accomplishment. The Lord himself has ap- 
pointed prayer to be the antecedent means, '^ For this 
will I be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for 
them," Ezek. xxxvi. 37. To encourage this inquiry, the 
Lord condescends to say, " Ask me of things to come 
concerning my sons : and concerning the work of my 
hands command ye me," Isa. xlv. 11. And our Lord 
teaches us to pray, " Thy kingdom come. Thy will be 
done on earth, as it is in heaven," Matt. vi. 10. 

In reference, therefore, to these two great divisions of 



THE IMPORTUNITY. 193 

things that may be prayed for, there ought to exist in the 
mind, the fullest assurance that they shall be granted ; 
not because we pray for them, but because they are agree 
able to the will of God ; and because we know them to 
be so, we pray that his will in all things may be done, 
through Jesus Christ our Saviour. Importunity here, 
therefore, may be to any extent, and can commit no ex- 
cess. 

In regard to the third division, namely, those petitions 
which are suggested by our own personal and pecuUar 
circumstances ; since we know not the will of God, we 
can pray in faith, and with importunity, only when the 
desire itself is holy, and when we submit resignedly to 
the unknown will, whatever it may be. Our Lord in 
Gethsemane exhibited the fullest resignation, in harmony 
with the most earnest importunity. It is alike necessaiy 
to our submission, as to our fervency, that we beheve 
God's will to be good — ^^ good-will towards men." In 
mentioning, therefore, any temporal matter in prayer, we 
must leave it entirely and confidently to the good will of 
God. We must also settle it in our minds, whether it be 
indispensable to our salvation. It may be good for us 
that we should never obtain it. In distresses and diffi- 
culties, (for it grieves the heart of our Father to witness 
the extremities of his creatures,) w^e may spread our case 
with great freedom before the Lord ; casting ourselves 
u})on his goodness in Christ, we may use great importu- 
nity of entreaty for deliverance ; but as we know not what 
is best for ourselves, even in such cases, we consult our 
o^vn happiness, as well as discharge an incumbent duty, 
when we renounce our own wishes, saying, ^- not my will, 
but thine be done." In regard, however, to spiritual bless- 
ings, in which we positively know" that God is glorified, as 
well as our own sanctification promoted, we need employ 
no reserving clause. To say in such prayers, ^' not my will 

17 



194 THE IMPORTUNITY. 

but thine be done," is to imply that our desire is to attain 
holy graces, but that God's will is to deprive us of them. 
When we say spiritual blessings, we do not allude to the 
giftSj but to the graces of the Spirit. The former are 
given severally to every man as the Lord the Spirit sees 
fit to minister. But in regard to the graces — love, joy, 
meekness, temperance, &c., against which there is no law 
human or divine, there is no limit to the bounty of God, 
and should be none to our requests. When we pray for 
these, we ought not to entertain any doubts as to their 
being given us. In proportion to the value we attach to 
them, and the fulness of our desire for their possession, 
so w411 be our earnestness and importunity in prayer to 
obtain them. To this, however, we are brought only by 
the Spirit of grace and of supplications, Zech. xii. 10. 
" The Spirit helpeth our infirmities : for we know not 
what to pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit maketh in- 
tercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the 
mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for 
the saints according to the will of God," Rom. viii. 26, 27. 
The greatest of all spiritual and eternal blessings, is the 
presence of God. On this our heart's strongest desires 
ought to be fixed. This is the subject w^hich w^arrants 
and rewards the most vehement importunity. Even in 
the greatest darkness of soul, even while the countenance 
of God is withdrawn, nothing can honour God more as a 
Creator, or gratify his heart more as a Parent, than that 
we should make the light of his countenance, the first 
and last object of our desires, and be restless and unhappy 
ISO long as it is turned away from us. Indeed, not to be 
importunate after this, proves that we are destitue of the 
feelings of a child, and shows that we possess little or no 
love to our heavenly Father. It was this that well nigh 
burst the fihal heart of Christ, in the garden, and on the 



THE IMPORTUNITY. 195 

cross. His whole soul desired to enjoy the smile of his 
Father's countenance. He knew the goodness of his 
Father, and he knew that the further he pressed into it, 
the more of it he should obtain. 

In regard, then. Christian reader, to the extent to 
which you may use importunity in prayer, here is the 
greatest of all spiritual and eternal blessings open to you. 
" The Lord God is a sun and a shield ; he will give grace 
and glory : no good thing will he withhold from them 
that walk uprightly," Psa. Ixxxiv. 11. The Lord will 
bestow HIMSELF. Ask largely, and you shall obtain 
largely ; pray earnestly, and you shall receive immedi- 
ately. God is not willing to hide his face for ever from 
you. His intention is this, '• I will return to my place, 
till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face," 
Hosea v. 15. " Seek the Lord, then, and his strength ; 
seek his face evermore," Psa. cv. 4. Strive to be able to 
say, " When thou saidst. Seek ye my face ; my heart 
said. unto thee. Thy face. Lord, will I seek," Psa. xxvii. 
8. Though enveloped in thick darkness, yet remember 
that " The Lord is able to do for you exceeding abun- 
dantly above all that you can ask or think,'" Eph. iii. 20. 
If, then, hke your great High Priest, you are in darkness 
and desiertion, still pray for the return of God's presence 
to your soul ; no petition can you present more agreeable 
to his ear, or more conducive to your own salvation. 
Be encouraged, then, to imitate this example, by consid- 
ering that he who left it is now interceding at the right 
hand of the Majesty on high. Come, therefore, boldly 
to the throne of grace, Heb. iv. 16 ; and cast not away 
your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward, 
Heb. X. 35, " for we are made partakers of Christ, if we 
hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the 
end," Heb. iii. 14. 

Keep close, then^ under the sheltering wing of Jesus ; 



196 THE IMPORTUNITY. 

in whom we have boldness and access with confidence 
by the faith of him, Eph. iii. 12. Begin, continue, and 
end all your hopes in Him ; place the fullest confidence 
in his acceptance with his Father : draw out all your 
arguments from the treasury of his righteousness ; pre- 
sent them without doubting ; urge them without hesita- 
tion. ^* The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' 
sake." Bring this forth, then, as your strong reason ; 
and with ceaseless importunity, as you value your own 
salvation, plead it before God. Will he plead against 
you with his great power ? No ; he will put strength 
in you to persevere, till, like your Lord, you are able to 
exclaim. " Thou hast heard me." 



CHRIST ON THE CROSS IN LIGHT. 



THE DELIVERANCE. 

Verse 21. — Tliou hast heard me.'^ 

Importunity prevails with God. He that will not 
be satisfied without the blessing, shall be satisfied with 
it. Ask, and you shall have ; seek, and you shall find ; 
knock, and you shall gain admittance. Christ spake a 
parable to this end, that men ought always to pray and 
not to faint. He here proves the truth of his own teach- 
ing. During this whole morning of persecution, his 
mind was stayed on God. Throughout the period of 
desertion, his soul earnestly sought the comforting pre- 
sence of his Father. In the heaviest gloom of the dark- 
ness, he yielded not, but still pressed forward in spirit to 
the hght. Now the light is come — the true light of a 
Fathers love — a Father^s countenance of gracious ap- 
probation. God withstands his pleading no longer. 
Though he does not grant it to him because he is a 

* For the transposition here adopted, see Bishop Horsley. Aiusworth , 
in his Annotations, says, '• Thou hast answered me ;" a speech of faith 
mserted in his prayers, therefore next followeth thanksgiving, " An- 
swering'^ is here used for safe delivering upon prayer, as the Chaldee 
translateth, " hast accepted my prayer.'' 

The psalm is thus divided into two parts. The first in darkness, and 
the second in light. The one all sorrow, the other all gladness ; the one 
descriptive of the sufferings of Christ, the other of the glory that should 
follow, 1 Pet. i. 1 1 ; the one expressing Christ's endurance of the cross, 
the other the joy that was set before him, Heb. xii. 2. 

17* 



198 THE DELIVERANCE. 

friend — a son — yet because of his importunity, he giveth 
him whatever he needeth. All that the holy Christ 
needs, or desires, is centred in God himself, •' Thou art 
my life, my light, my peace, my bliss, my all ; thy smile 
is my sunshine ; thy approbation my prosperity ; thy 
love my reward ; thy glory my crown ; without thee I 
am poor ; and with thee rich, take what thou wilt 
away." Now all this is come. The tide of eternal love 
flows in full current into the heart of Christ. The stream 
of his love had never ceased ; as a river to the sea, it 
had still sent its waters to their source. Christ had 
come forth from the bosom of the Father ; throughout 
life he enjoyed uninterrupted communion with him — 
conscious possession of a home in his heart. On the 
cross, however, nothing but a dark thick cloud could be 
discerned. His affections rose up as before, but there 
was no return as formerly — no response. The arrow 
of prayer seemed to be lost in the depths of that cloud, 
yet he believed that his own Father lived beyond ; he 
still felt persuaded that Father loved him ; he still be- 
lieved that the door of his Father's house would not be 
always shut against him. Now his faith is victorious. 
God, as it were, addresses him, as he himself did the 
Syrophenician woman, " O Son, great is thy faith, be 
it unto thee even as thou wilt." Christ's importunity 
had said, as it were, '^I will have light;" and the Hearer 
of prayer answered, " Thou shalt have light." Christ's 
strong love could not, and would not, bear putting away ; 
it intimated, '^ I will never rest till I enjoy communion 
with thee again." The Father replied, " Thou shalt be 
admitted to the fulness of joy in my presence." And 
here the suppHant Saviour exclaims with gratitude and 
exultation of heart, " Thou hast heard me." 

What a relieving view does this present of the dark 
hour of the crucifixion ! It removes the painful doubt ; 



THE DELIVERANCE. 199 

it shows US that the Son of God departed not out of this 
life under the hidings of his Father's countenance. Dis- 
quietude and anguish of spirit were dispelled ; every 
troubled feeling was hushed to repose ; the lowering 
clouds of evening were dissipated, and the Sun of Right- 
eousness set in the calm effulgence of pure and glorious 
hght. 

What an example of the power of fervent, persevering 
prayer is here set before us ! The advocate had urged 
every plea, had addressed God by every name and char- 
acter, had set forth the necessities of his case in the most 
urgent manner, had returned again and again with com- 
plaint, and appeal, and argument, and entreaty, and at 
last had set himself as an importunate suitor that would 
take no further denial. This prevails. God grants his 
request to the very utmost. " The kingdom of heaven 
sufTereth violence, and the violent take it by force," Matt, 
xi. 12. Like Jacob of old, the Saviour said, " I will not 
let thee go, except thou bless me," Gen. xxxii. 26. And 
he was blessed ; all his petitions were granted ; the whole 
tone of feeling and of desire is altered. Who can express 
w^hat the Saviour must have felt ? The psalm changes 
from sorrow to joy. " Thou hast heard me," is the iSrst 
cry of victory. It is not, " I have prevailed ; I have 
conquered ;" but it is, " Thou hast heard me." The 
honour is all given to God. He that sitteth on the 
throne is true and faithful. To Him be all the glory ! 

Let the desponding Christian take courage. Deliver- 
ance shall be sent. Light must soon arise. " In due 
season you shall reap if you faint not." Beware of timid 
thoughts and anxious fears. Lay hold on God's strength ; 
" He never said to any of the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me 
in vain," Isa. xlv. 19. God is the hearer of prayer. He 
will in no wise cast out those who come to him in his 
Son. Let this successful example of that Son be ever 



200 THE DELIVERANCE. 

before your mind. Like him, be unwearied in supplica- 
tion. As he is your best pattern, so let him be your only 
ground of confidence, in prayer. Let the word, or doc- 
trine, of his suretyship and righteousness abide in you. 
His word will purify your desires. Longings after things 
that are holy, just, and good, will be kindled by the Spi- 
rit of hoHness within your breast. The earnestness of 
your petitions will be expended on heavenly realities ; 
and if his word thus abide in you,, you shall ask what 
YOU WILL, and it shall be done unto you, John xv. 7. 

How powerful is the will^ for good or evil ! The sin- 
ner will not abandon his pleasures, he refuses to receive 
correction ; he will go on, though it be to destruction ; 
and he shall go. The true Christian, however, is one 
w^ho is made witting by the Spirit of God, to do the 
very reverse. He is wilhng to abandon sin ; he hates 
it ; he will seek to be pure, he will strive to be holy, he 
will " follow hard after God ;" and he shall find him ; 
and he shall be sanctified. 

The promise made by the Father to the Son is, ^^ Thy 
people shall be willing in the day of thy power," Psa. 
ex. 3. Till God's Power, even his Holy Spirit, come 
into the heart, man is willing to walk only in the way 
of that heart. His will goes forth spontaneously, to the 
things that please him. It does so naturally, and with- 
out an eifort. When therefore the Gluickener enters, in 
the day of his power, he first works in the man to will, 
and then to do, of God's good pleasure, Phil. ii. 13. This 
is a rational mode. It is exactly according to the man- 
ner in which we influence our fellow-men. Our own 
will being directed towards an object, in which we wish 
their assistance, we first set ourselves to gain their will, 
their consent, then their co-operation. To this end we 
show them how good, desirable, and advantageous, the 
object is. We remove their prejudices. We succeed in 



THE DELIVERANCE. 201 

turning the full tide of their inclination towards that, 
which they at first, perhaps, regarded with aversion. 
Our end is gained. They become one with us in spirit. 
So is it with the work of the Spirit of God. He finds 
the will of every man turned away from the Creator — 
fixed on self and worldly objects. He seeks to change 
that will, and therefore shows how good God is, how 
advantageous his service, how dangerous the course we 
are pm*suing. He desires us to turn to God, and he 
shows God turned towards us. He commands, us to 
love our heavenly Father, and he proves how much he 
loves us. He enjoins us to serve God, and he exhibits 
him serving our cause, and securing our best interests, 
in the person of his own Son. Apart from Jesus, the 
Spirit of God does nothing. From him, all the lessons 
of heavenly wisdom are derived. The suiferings and 
death of Christ in our room and stead, form the grand 
arguments by which the Spirit of God influences the 
human will. 

Nor is the mode of this operation of the Lord the Spi- 
rit, either mysterious or extravagant. He deals with 
our souls in a distinct and intelligible manner. He in- 
fluences our mind by the truths contained in the Holy 
Scriptures. When we open these treasures of wisdom, 
he opens our hearts to believe that there is reality in 
what we read. He teaches our consciences to give every 
word its own pointed meaning, and a personal application 
to our own hearts and lives. For instance, when we 
read of the love of Christ, he enables us to say, " It is 
true ; therefore he loved me and gave himself for me." 
When we read, " Be ye holy in all manner of conversa- 
tion," he inclines us to add, " It is right ; therefore I will 
seek to be altogether holy." How diflferent this to the 
listless manner in which we before traced the sacred 
page ! This is hfe : it is reality ; it is intelligence ; it 



202 THE DELIVERANCE. 

is just what ought to be. It is not the formal perusal of 
one chapter after another ; promises, threatenings, com- 
mandments, sounding in our ears in one unbroken and 
unmeaning monotony. It is the spirit of the reader 
catching (rather caught by) the Spirit of the Author, 
and entering into each varied sentiment, with all the 
zest and animation of an understanding intellect, an 
approving conscience, and an obedient heart. This 
makes man a new creature towards God. This is his 
being born again, born of the Spirit, ^' begotten by the 
truth." As says James, " Of his own will begat he us 
with the word of truth." As Peter also, " Seeing ye 
have purified your souls in obeying the truth, being born 
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by 
the word of God." Our blessed Saviour likewise in his 
intercession for the infant church thus prays, '^ Sanctify 
them through thy truth ; thy word is truth." And it 
appears to be in answer to this solemn prayer, that in 
the first council held at Jerusalem, the Hebrew testified 
thus regarding the Gentile converts, " God put no dif- 
ference between us and them, purifying their hearts by 
faith." 

What a deliverance is this ! The man is passed from 
darkness into light. The end is gained. He has be- 
come one in spirit with the great Spirit. He now wills 
to do what God would have him. He wills to be holy, 
to be like God. Through every trial of prosperity and 
adversity he still desires the same thing. Though provi- 
dential dispensations change, and sun and storms alter- 
nate, he keeps on his way, following hard in spirit after 
the sGource of light and love. His will, in believing 
prayer, prevails with God, because it is consonant to the 
will of God. And, like the Saviour, he issues forth 
from the darkest cloud, exclaiming, '• Thou hast heard 



THE DELIVERANCE. 203 

The natural man, in his unconverted state, is thus 
made a conscious example of the power of the Divine 
Will. He is changed into a new creature. He experien- 
ces a spiritual resurrection. He passes from death to life. 
As, in this change, we witness an exemplification of the 
power of the will of the Holy Spirit, on unbelieving 
man ; so we are permitted to witness, in the develop- 
ment and progress of this new spiritual life, instances of 
the power of the believer's will, on a condescending and 
prayer-hearing God. The simplest pmyer is a sublime 
mystery. The feeble voice of a child, influences the 
great God. A burdened, conscience-stricken, offender, 
who smites upon his breast, and says, " God be merciful 
to me a sinner," moves the heart of his Creator, and 
changes his deahngs towards him. " Prayer moves the 
arm that moves the world." Whence is this? The se- 
cret of the mystery consists in this, that prayer is a spirit- 
ual act It is the operation of the Spirit of God. No 
heavenly desires, no confessions of sin, no breathings after 
God, can rise in any human breast, without the direct 
and immediate agency of the Holy Ghost. He worketli 
in every man. His visitings are witnessed in every con- 
science. Without him we are not only asleep, we are 
dead, in soul. If, then, the Spirit be the author of 
praj^er, it necessarily follows that all his suggestions 
therein will be according to the will of God, Rom. viii. 
27. It is obvious that he cannot, and will not, ins[)ire 
any desire, but what is in full accordance with the Holy 
Mind. Our will, then, in prayer, is the will of the Spirit 
of God ; the object to which our desires are drawn, is 
the object which God desires ; the strength of our affec- 
tion towards it, is the power of the Spirit working in us ; 
the earnest importunity which we exercise in prayer, is 
the expression of the intensity of the Holy Spirit's desire 
for the accompUshment of the object ; and the success 



204 THE DELIVERANCE. 

which attends beheving and fervent prayer, is the crown- 
ing act of Him who begins, continues, and ends, all good 
works in us. The mystery, then, is explained. Prayer 
prevails, because God inspires it. He works in us to 
ask, because he purposes to perform. The prayer that 
precedes, is as much his work, as the blessing which fol- 
lows is his gift. Prayer is itself part of the blessing. 
But it may be objected, ^- It is presumptuous to say, or 
imagine, that all our prayers are inspired by the Holy 
Ghost." But remember, we now speak only of true, 
spiritual prayer. Alas, the great majority of our prayeria 
are but collections of words. To read over a page or two 
of devotional expressions, is not prayer ; to pour forth an 
extempore address to God, is not prayer ; these may 
bear the appearance, but we now speak of the reality of 
prayer. True prayer is the utterance of the heart — the 
souFs conference with its God. The sacred term of 
"prayer ought never to be applied to any thing beside. 
When, then, we state the scriptural position, that the heart 
is dead towards God, and not only cannot utter, but has 
nothing within it to utter before him, we must arrive at 
the conclusion, that wherever, in the universal family of 
man, there is a conscience partially, or fully, enlightened, 
a heart faintly stirring towards God, or earnestly inquir- 
ing after him, that conscience, and that heart, derive 
their light, and their desires, only and entirely from the 
Spirit of light and life, of grace and of supplications. 
Presumption, then, lies not in saying, '' Thou, Lord, hast 
wrought all our works in us ;" but in imagining that we 
possess the good in ourselves. The deepest humihation 
leads us to say, " I cannot think a right thought of my- 
self." The presumption consists in saying, 1 need not 
the Spirit of God to assist me to pray. See Jude 20 ; 
Eph. vi. 18. 

Reader, this is a solemn heart-searching truth. O how 



THE DELIVERANCE. 205 

it condemns our cold, formal, heartless, prayers. These 
never reach the ear of the Lord God of Sabaoth. If you 
would prevail in prayer, your whole heart must be en- 
gaged in your petitions ; be in earnest ; let your applica- 
tion to the true Physician be as much a reahty, as is your 
consultation with him who relieves your bodily diseases. 
Under a sense of pain and agony, your heart is not list- 
less, nor your words unmeaning. Realize to yourself 
that the Lord is a living, acting, being. If you can rest 
quiet under trouble, without casting it upon God ; if you 
can lie under the hidings of his face, and not feel the 
most overpowering anxiety to be restored to favour ; it is 
only natural and proper that you should remain burdened 
and uncomforted ; to relieve you from sorrow, while in 
such a state of mind, w^ould prove your ruin. If the rod 
bring not the child to a right mind, its removal is more 
fraught with danger than its continuance. The wise 
parent perseveres with the chastisement, till it accomplish 
the desired end ; his severity is the fruit of judicious love ; 
he is more anxious to withdraw the infliction, than to ad- 
minister it ; he w^ould not continue it one moment longer 
than is absolutely necessary. 

If, then, O Christian, you are now lying under the 
hidings of your heavenly Father's countenance, desist 
not from prayer. Again, and again, and again, return ; 
seek opportunities of pouring out your heart — your whole 
heart : let not one thought, or feeling, or desire, remain 
unbosomed. Seek also public means of grace ; with 
those of the worshipping assembly, let your confessions 
and supplications be intermingled ; at all times, and in 
all places, however your hands may be occupied, let your 
heart be engaged with God. Unknown to all around 
you, let quick, successive, earnest, ejaculutions, waft your 
spirit in silence, from the presence of men, to the presence- 
chamber of the great King. Remember, there is One 

18 



206 THE i>i:liv'euance. 

standing there, ready to present your petition ; put it into 
his handj he can fully sympathize in the most dehcate 
feeling, the most pressing want, the most unutterable 
anguish. Give many petitions, and furnish many ar- 
guments, that he may have many to present in your 
name ; be importunate with him, that he may be able 
to carry forward your importunity to his Father. Re- 
member, that he intercedes in your name, when you pray 
in his; those petitions alone, rise to heaven, which are 
presented in his name ; no blessings descend to us, but 
those to which the great High Priest attaches our names. 
Meditate much on this point ; it Vvall give you clear views 
in reference to prayer ; it will strengthen you to be hum- 
bly bold, and earnest, and importunate. Christ gives 
you his name to use, and you must give him 3^ours to pre- 
sent ; Christ gives you his righteousness as your plea and 
argument, and you must return it to your Advocate as 
the only plea to be urged on your behalf; Christ gives 
you his Holy Spirit, and you must give him your whole 
spirit ; for the worshippers whom he regards, are those 
who pray in spirit and in truth. Remember, that you 
are permitted to draw upon the Eternal Bank only in 
the name of your Surety ; and that to benefit you, he 
also must draw expressly in your name. You must 
therefore pray, not in general and indefinite terms, but 
in special and particular requests ; you must state your 
case, its name and nature, with its every modification of 
circumstance ; you must confess your utter inabiUty to 
help yourself, and your great unworthiness that he 
should do any thing for you : you must specify the par- 
ticular blessing you wish, the amount of it that is neces- 
sary, and the time by which it must be received. Ac- 
cording to your urgency of petition and strength of faith, 
so shall it be done unto you. The great and gracious 
Surety has placed his own interest at the treasury of 



THE DELIVERANCE. 207 

heaven to your use ; with the tenderest consideration he 
has put a letter of unUmited credit into your hands, signed 
and sealed with his own blood ; he has said, " If my 
words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it 
shall be done unto- you," John xv. 7. Here is the 
ground and warrant of your request. It is sufficient for 
your case, even though it were ten times more sad, sin- 
ful, and insupportable. On this ground it is impossible 
to use too great a boldness of petition, too vehement an 
urgency of prayer. It is only, if the words of Christ be 
kept in remembrance, so as to regulate our wills and de- 
sires, that we have any right to expect a blessing, or 
even to ask for its bestowal. The carnal mind thinks 
itself entitled, from a partial view of this passage, to ask 
for the gratification of its desires, for whatever things it 
will ; and when these are withheld, the father of lies 
tempts it to turn infidel, and to discard the Bible, as a 
book of deceptive promises. But the regenerate heart 
seeks to have its desires sanctified, and fixed only on the 
things which God approves, and then it knows it caimot 
covet too large a portion of spiritual blessings. This is 
what the Saviour means ; he says, '' If my words abide 
in you." His ^^ words" contain a declaration of the 
name of him to whom we are to approach ; that name is 
The Father ; his " words" inform us that the Father's 
favour is life, and that the Father's presence is salva- 
tion ; his " words" direct us to make God the sum and 
centre of our desires, teach us that seeking after him is 
our first duty, and declare that apart from his blessing, 
nothing can be really desirable or beneficial. 

If, then, these words abide in your heart, they will ac- 
tuate and govern all its desires ; your will shall be sub- 
dued to the will of God ; your deliberate and principal 
desire will be to enjoy his love, to be purified for his com= 
munion, and to be wholly and completely his, in soul 



208 THE DELIVERANCE. 

and body, in time and eternity. Having thus your 
whole mind directed to one object, namely, the Divine 
will : you may ask what you will in reference to its ac- 
complishment, and it shall be done unto you. The 
more petitions you thus present, the more answers shall 
be vouchsafed. * The greater urgency you use, the sooner 
shall you be relieved. The more pressing and importu- 
nate you are on this ground, for immediate audience, 
and instant deliverance, the more certain, and prompt, 
will be your success. It was thus Jesus prayed, who is 
the High Priest of our profession. What is the subject 
of his prayer? What is the ever recurring petition 
which he presents ? Is it to be taken from the cross — 
to be removed from under the affliction ? Is it to have 
the pains of his body mitigated — his revilers blasted — or 
his own death prevented ? By no means. On none of 
these is the filial heart of Jesus set. The full current of 
his thoughts flows towards one object — the favour of God? 
and the return of conscious enjoyment of that favour. 
Was it not this which extorted the bitter cr)^, " My God ! 
My God ! w^hy hast thou forsaken me ?" Is it not his 
twice repeated entreaty ? ^^ Be not thou far from me." 
Does he not press himself, as it were, upon his Father's 
attention, as one that belonged to him, and for whom it 
was his duty to care, saying, " I was cast upon thee from 
the womb ?" And when the light returns, and peace 
dispels the sorrow, what is the argument by which he 
seeks to influence his Church's gratitude, and excite her 
praises of his Father ? Is it not because he had " not 
hid his face from him ?" This was the pearl of price for 
which the God-man cast aside every other consideration. 
Pains, sorrows, griefs, enemies, tortures, and death itself^ 
were all as nothing in his estimation, when compared 
with the light of his Father's countenance. This was 
worthy of Christ : his fiUal heart fastened its aflfections 



THE DELIVERANCE. 209 

on a Father's love. He felt death in every thing else. 
He never wouldj he never could, rest contented till he 
enjoyed it again. Alas ! it is our sin and shame, that 
this is not the first and highest object of our desires. 
Not to be importunate after this^ is a spiritual crime of 
a grievous nature. If a justly offended earthly father, 
turn from us, till we confess our offence, and implore rec- 
oncihation, is it not adding sin to sin, if we delay our 
acknowledgment, and feel indifferent to his friendship ? 
Does it not prove that we are fast sinking in the moral 
scale, becoming hardened and insensible to every finer 
feeling of our nature, if we can contentedly pass year 
after year without caring for a father's love, or imploring 
his paternal benediction ? How much more guilt}^, and 
lost in depravity of feeling, is it to continue our im- 
penitence and disregard, in the face of daily proofs of 
that father's love and kindness ? Should he prevent our 
painful confession and acknowledgment, by overtures of 
friendship ; should he himself anticipate our request, by 
entreating us to be reconciled ; and should he try to ef- 
fect our reformation and secure our love, by a frank and 
generous declaration of his forgiveness, how obdurate 
and seared must the heart be that rejects him ! Yet 
this is what we do against God. He is our Father ; he is 
the Parent we have offended, yet it is he thatbegins the 
reconciliation, 2 Cor. v. ^ 9, 20. It is his bounty that sup- 
plies us every moment, and his heart that is wounded by 
our indifference and unconcern. See then what neces- 
sity there is for your instantaneous repentance, and im- 
mediate confession and supplication. Learn w^iat enor- 
mity it is, not to be anxious and importunate to enjoy 
the hght of the Father's countenance. O man ! draw 
hither all your thoughts — here centre your affections — 
on this fix your most intense desires. Immortal being ! 
love, and seek unto, Him who gave thee being and im- 

18* 



210 THE DELIVERANCE. 

mortality with a breath ! Say with David, " As -the hart 
panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after 
thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the hving 
God," Psa. xlii. 1, 2. And again, " My heart and my 
flesh crieth out for the hving God," Psa. Ixxxiv. 2. If 
the heavy aflOiiction under which you lie, prevent your 
rising to such a full, ardent, and undivided, desire after 
God, yet let not the strong current of your affections be 
lost in other channels. Call home your thoughts, sum- 
mon your utmost resolution, look to the Holy Spirit for 
strength, and give yourselves to fervent, unceasing, and 
importunate prayer. See how earnest and importunate 
the psalmist is under a similar aflJiction, which again 
sets him forth to view as a type of the Man of Sorrows. 
Hear how he pleads and prays, how he supplicates and 
entreats, " Save me, O God ; for the waters are come in 
unto my soul. O God, in the multitude of thy mercy 
hear me ; in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out 
of the mire — let me not sink — let not the water-flood 
overflow me — let not the deep swallow me up. Hear 
me, O Lord, turn unto me — hide not thy face from thy 
servant, for I am in trouble — hear me speedily— draw 
nigh unto my soul-— redeem it — dehver me," Psa. Ixix. 
Imitate this example ; set no bounds to your prayer, no 
limit, no termination, but success. Pray till you be 
heard. Pray till you obtain admission to his favour 
again. You shall not require to use such importunity 
long. " In due season you shall reap if you faint not." 
Like David, you shall be enabled to add, " I will praise 
the name of God with a song : I will magnify him with 
thanksgiving," ver. 30. Or like your Lord, your dark- 
ness shall be turned into light, and while you are yet 
speaking, God will answer, and cause you, by the blessed 
nearness of his presence, to exclaim, "Thou hast heard 



THE GRATITUDE. 



Verse 22. — / will declare thy name unto my brethren : in the 
midst of the congregation will I praise thee. 

Having thus obtained relief from the oppressive dark- 
ness, and regained conscious possession of the joy and 
Ught of his Father's countenancej the Redeemer's 
thoughts and desires flow into their accustomed channel. 
What is that channel? The glory of God in the salva- 
tion of his Church. These were the two objects for 
which he had lived more than thirty years. He never 
had a thought or wish that was not intimately connected 
with the one or the other. But we must not call them 
two, as though they were entirely distinct. In the heart 
of Christ these two were one. It was not only God's 
glory for which he lived; it was not only man's salva- 
tion for which he died ; it was for both ; it was the one 
in the other. It was to glorif}^ God in saving man, and 
to save man in glorifying God, that Christ lived and 
died. God was glorified in the declaration of his name ; 
man was saved by means of that declaration ; Christ's 
thoughts therefore ran instantly to their grand, their two- 
fold, object. He bursts forth with an acclamation of 
praise ; he utters aloud his Father's goodness, and his 
own gratitude; he expresses anew his determination and 
dehght to do the duty he had undertaken, " I will declare 
thy name unto my brethren : in the midst of the congre- 
gation will I praise thee." 

How amiable, how lovely, does the Lord appear, to 



212 THE GRATITUDE. 

the Christian's apprehension, when he thus speaks ! He 
is still the same kind friend that he was before our sins 
pierced him ; he uses the same gracious term as formerly ; 
he has not forgotten us ; his spiritual resurrection is ac- 
complished ; the first name he utters is, " my brethren." 
After his hteral resurrection, he did the same. When 
Mary met him near the sepulchre, he said, " Go to my 
brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, 
and your Father ; and to my God, and your God," John 
XX. 17. 

Gracious Saviour, how full of love thou art ! What 
condescension is in thy nature ! what tenderness in thy 
words ! Thou dost unite us so with God ; our timid 
hearts are comforted, our consciences quieted. What we 
could not venture to hope, thou teachest us to believe. 
We know thy Sonship, but we doubt our own ; yet in 
one breath thou callest God thy Father, and ours also, 
as if thou wouldst prove, beyond all doubt, that in thee, he 
is ours, and that through thee^ we are his. It is so of a 
truth. We behold God in thee, and are glad ; God be- 
holds our nature in thee, and is satisfied. Glorious Rec- 
onciler, in thy single person accepting manhood and be- 
stowing Godhead ! More blessed in thy giving than in 
thy receiving. Thou hast condescended to take our 
form, and we will aspire to be conformed to thine image, 
that thou mayest be the first-born among many breth- 
ren, Rom. viii. 29. Blessed art thou, infinitely more 
blessed, in giving the name of brethren, than in receiv- 
ing that of brother ! We hesitate to call thee so, because 
it seems to do thee a dishonour ; yet thou art not ashamed 
to call us brethren, as if it were thy glory, Heb. ii. 11. 
Well mayest thou ask, " Who are my brethren ?" for who- 
soever shall do the will of thy Father which is in heaven, 
the same only is thy brother. Matt. xii. 48, 50. O help 
us then to live as ought the brethren of the Holy One ; 



THE GRATITUDE. 213 

let this be a name of power within us ; let it kindle in us 
all brotherly affections and kindred desires ; let it influ- 
ence us to live worthy of thy name ; may we who have 
already laid enough of sin on thy devoted head, hence- 
forth cast it from us and from thee ! Like the brethren 
of Joseph, may we live on the fulness, and rejoice in the 
brotherhood, of Him whom we stripped and sold ! This 
will delight thy heart ; thou shalt see of the travail of thy 
soul, and shalt be satisfied ; thou wilt glorify thy Fa- 
ther ; thou wilt magnify his name with thanksgivings ; 
in the midst of the congregation wilt thou praise him. 
Teach us to learn, help us to sing, thy song. Send the 
Spirit of love and harmony into our hearts, that we may 
learn the straina of the angelic choirs. That Spirit ani- 
mates the redeemed before the throne, and inspires the 
redeemed before the footstool ; the song is one ; the leader 
Christ ; the singers brethren ; discord is for ever fled : 

" Then jointly all the harpers round, 
In mmd unite, with solemn sound, 
And strokes upon the highest string, 
Make all the heavenly arches ring. 
Ring loud with hallelujahs high, 
To him that sent his Son to die, 
And to the worthy Lamb of God, 
That loved and washed them in his blood." 

The " congregation" spoken of in this verse is explained 
by the apostle in his Epistle to the Hebrews. He quotes 
this passage, and applies it to the Church, " For both he 
that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of 
one ; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them 
brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my breth- 
ren, in the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto 
thee," Heb. ii. 11, 12. 

What a view does this present to our minds ! Christ 
looks from the crosg to the Church. The gratitude of 



214 THE -GRATITUDE. 

his heart is to be uttered in the assembly of his saints. 
" Where two or three are met together in his name, there 
is he in the midst of them," Matt, xviii. 20. He puts his 
own Spirit within them, that they may participate in his 
sentiments. As he entered bodily into the room, where 
his disciples were assembled, so is he spiritually, but real- 
ly, present, in every company of his faithful people. He 
meets with them ; he blesses them while they are bless- 
ing God. When they pray for his Spirit, he hears them, 
and w^hile they are yet speaking, he sends him into their 
hearts. The petitions which they offer, he presents to 
his Father in his own name ; he has a full right to do 
so, for he makes one in the midst of their assembly. As 
the elder brother of every sincere worshipper, all the 
prayers and praises ascend in his name. Christ came 
to glorify the Father, the Spirit comes to glorify the Son, 
and the sanctification of the Church is the glory of the 
Spirit. The three Persons of the Godhead obtain the 
triple honour of creation, redemption, and sanctification. 
The Church is the object of threefold love, and care, and 
power. It is to the Church that Christ declares the 
name of the Father. He reveals it by the instrumental- 
ity of his written word, and of his faithful ministers. He 
gathered his disciples one by one around him ; he instruct- 
ed them how to regard God, and how to address him 
as a Father. He had but small companies of twelve, 
and seventy, and one hundred and twenty, who sted- 
fastly attended his personal ministry. To them he de- 
clared this name of God, and told them to proclaim it to 
others. For this purpose he endued them with power 
from oil high, and immediately three thousand souls were 
added to the number of his professed worshippers. From 
that time, the churches walking in the fear of the Lord, 
and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multipHed, 
Acts ix. 31. At the present day they are found in every 



THE GRATITUDE. 215 

quarter of the earth. The promise that was made to the 
first small company, shall not fail to sustam and comfort 
the lastj " Loj I am with you always, even to the end of 
the world." Time shall fail, but not Christ's promises. 
The end of the world, but not of his word, shall arrive. 
He will be better than his word, he will be with them 
also throughout eternity. '• Rejoicing in the habitable 
parts of the earth," Christ rejoices more in the habitable 
hearts. He seeks to dwell in men by his Spirit. We 
are individually " temples ;" collectively, ^- a temple." 
Jesus is our High Priest. He prays in us, he prays with 
us, he prays for us, he prays by us. His praises ascend 
with ours : he inspires us with his own gratitude, and 
expresses by our lips, his heartfelt thanksgivings. The 
self-containing and mysterious name, " I am that I am," 
he explains to mean, " God is love." Having cleansed 
the temple of our hearts from fear and selfishness, by this 
explanation written in his own blood, he sits in the midst 
of our concentrated aflfections, and praises God with us 
m our closet. When congregations assemble, he conde- 
scends to meet with them. Where his members are, 
there is their Head present. Though unseen by them, 
he is in their midst. His Spirit animates their hearts ; 
in their psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, he praises 
the great Deliverer — his Father and their Father, his 
God and their God ! 

Gratitude is a noble and generous sentiment ! It ele- 
vates man above the beasts that perish ; unites him to 
the superior intelhgence ; and, as it were, repays the 
benefactor with an acceptable interest. Gratitude is one 
of the fairest plants in the garden of the heart. It is the 
sun-flower of the soul. Roused by the first gift of light, 
it follows the whole course of the solar orb. With droop- 
ing head it mourns his absence, and with upraised grati- 
tude welcomes his return. Let this be the emblem of 



THE GRATITUDE. 216 

our souls. The Christian's heart should blossom with 
perpetual gratitude. Looking unto Jesus with glowing 
feelings, we should mark his course, and follow it with 
thankfulness. Shall he declare to us the paternal name 
by which we may address Jehovah, and shall we not 
cry Abba, Father, with all the love and gratitude of 
which our hearts are capable ? 

But this verse sets before us a far higher gratitude 
than that of the Church ; it testifies that of Christ the 
Head. " I will declare thy name. In the midst of the 
congregation I will praise thee." Oh how we wonder 
w4th great admiration at the gratitude of Christ ! He is 
God over all ; " I and my Father are one." " Without 
him was not any thing; made that was made." Yet he 
gives thanks for all things, and gratefully acknowledges 
that bounty and goodness which supplies himself and 
others. " He took the seven loaves and gave thanks," 
Mark viii. 6. He stood at the grave of Lazarus, and said, 
^' Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me," John 
xi. 41. When the seventy disciples returned to him, 
" Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, 
Lord of heaven and earth," Lukex. 2L Likewise after 
supper, when he instituted the memorial of his dying 
love, he gave thanks before them all. Jesus had a grate- 
ful heart. Gratitude is an ingredient in perfect love. We 
are grateful for being loved. Christ taught us the NAME 
he loved, that we might love it also. God's various names 
declare what he is in himself, and what he is to us. It is of 
great importance by w^hat name we most usually think 
of God. '^rhose who commonly speak of him only as 
the Almighty, are generally destitute of near, lively, and 
realizing views of his love in Christ, and of his paternal 
character. Of all the scriptural names of God, that of 
" Father'^^ is the most precious. Christ taught his disci- 
ples, saying, " When ye pray, say. Our Father?^ " I 



THE GRATITUDE. 217 

find an indescribable delight in using these words, ' Our 
Father f and, in praising, confessing, and praying for 
myself, as one of his large family, I generally begin with 
the thanks due to God for having made himself known 
as our Father."* 

All the other titles and attributes of God seem to meet 
in this name, as in a centre, and to emanate from it 
with illustrious rays. It is a most simple, yet all-compre- 
hensive name. There is also another which we would 
notice, because it is not peculiar to one, but applicable to 
all the Persons in the sacred Trinity. That name is 
Jehovah. 

" When the Lord speaks of himself with regard to his 
creatures, and especially his people, he calls himself 
^Jehovah — I am that I am,' Exodus iii. 14. We should 
understand this of God the Father, and of God the 
Son, and of God the Holy Ghost, One God. He does 
not say, I am their light, their life, their tower, their 
strength, but only / am. He sets his hand, as it were, 
to a blank, that his people may write under it what they 
please, that is for their good. As if he should say, ^ Are 
they weak? / am strength. Are they sick? / am 
health. Are they in trouble? I am comfort. Are they 
poor ? / am riches. Are they dying ? / am, life. Have 
they nothing ? lam all things. lam justice and mercy. 
/ am grace and goodness. / am glory, beauty, hohness, 
eminency, supremacy, perfection, all-sufBciency, eternity, 
Jehovah. I am whatsoever is suitable to their nature, 
or convenient for them in their several conditions. I am 
whatsoever is amiable in itself, or desirable to their souls. 
Whatever is pure and holy — whatever is great and pleas- 
ant — whatever is good, and needful to make them 
happy, that I am.' So that, in short, God here repre- 
sents himself unto us as one universal good ; and leaves 
* " Memoir of Miss Jane Graham." 
19 



218 THE GRATITUDE. 

US to make the application to ourselves, according to our 
several wants, capacities, and desires ; he saying only ia 
the general — I am."* Well, therefore, m#y the Psalmist 
exclaim, '' Let the righteous be glad ; let them rejoice 
before God; yea, let them exceedingly rejoice. Sing 
unto God, sing praises to his name : extol him that 
rideth upon the heavens by his name Jah, (or Jehovah,) 
and rejoice before him," Psa. Ixviii. 3, 4. 

* Bishop Beveridge. 



THE INVITATION. 



Verse 23. — Ye that fear the Lordj praise him; all ye the seed 
of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. 

Having expressed his own grateful determination; 
having- given utterance to the fulness of that dutiful love 
which occupied his own heart ; the Redeemer next calls 
on others to join in blessing the Father of all mercies. 
How natural is this ! The true lover longs to hear others 
praising the object of his affections. Who are these 
others? They are the members of his Church, that 
" congregation" in the midst of which he delights to dwell. 
They are divided into three companies. The fearers of 
the Lord, the seed of Jacob, and the seed of Israel. Ap- 
propriate parts in the great anthem of praise are assigned 
to each. The fearers of the Lord are invited to praise 
him. The seed of Jacob to glorify him ; and the seed 
of Israel, to fear, that is, to reverence, the Lord. 

These three companies are all one in Christ. They 
represent his people on earth, in three stages of advance- 
ment. That none may imagine themselves to be ex- 
cluded, they are each particularly addressed, and sever- 
ally invited to join the Saviour's song of grateful adora- 
tion. 

First, those w^ho fear the Lord are addressed. This is 
a striking characteristic of all those who have experienced 
even the least degree of true religion. All disciples are 
not equally advanced, but all are distinguished from the 
world around them by this pecuharity. They fear the 
Lord ; they know that he is every where present ; they 
believe that he takes notice of all they think, and say, 



220 THE INVITATION. 

and do. They know him by these names, " The Al- 
mighty," " The great and terrible God." They gene- 
rally speak in such terms as these, " The Divine Being, 
the Deity, the Supreme Ruler of the universe, the Judge 
of all ;" or with this addition, " Our Creator, Our Merci- 
ful Preserver." Knowing so much of the Sacred Namje, 
they stand in awe, sometimes their fear amounts almost 
to dread. Occasionally it is softened into a milder sen- 
timent. 

To fear the Lord, is a lesson with which every disci- 
ple must be familiar. It is the first in the school of 
Christ. All need not be learning it, but all must know 
it by heart. Advanced scholars go on to higher lessons, 
but they must never forget this first rudiment of spiritual 
knowledge. Where is it taught? Only in the school of 
Christ. There the true light is shining, and all without 
is darkness. When any man enters this school, his pre- 
vious attainments are disregarded ; he is set to learn the 
alphabet of his nature in' the light of eternity. To his 
horror, he perceives that the entire alphabet is black, and 
all the letters different in size and form ; he learns that 
his whole nature is corrupt, that almost all the actions 
of his Ufe are curved and crooked, while even the 
straightest of them are black, dotted, or crossed. Unac- 
customed to such instructions, he is slow to learn them, 
blots his primer with his tears, and dreads every word 
and movement of his Teacher. God appears to him to 
be rigid and severe ; he looks up to him only at intervals, 
and that with dread ; he feels unable to approach him 
with filial confidence, but yet he is persuaded and deter- 
mined to learn the lessons ; he hears of the progress of 
others, and is encouraged to dihgent application. Thus is 
it with many of the first class in the very earliest stage of 
their spiritual Ufe. An appropriate duty is set before them. 
They are encouraged to praise their Teacher. Instead 



THE INVITATION. 221 

of regarding him with feeUngs of apprehension, and 
speaking of him as a severe master, they are told to 
praise him for all the trouble, care, and attention, he is 
bestowing upon them. O ye trembling Christians, let 
all you know of God be turned into matter of praise ; you 
shall thus be strengthened in your hearts, and enlarged 
in your confidence towards him. Be not cast down when 
your sense of proficiency is small, as if you never should 
learn : but make a right use of the Uttle you have ac- 
quired, and you shall soon advance to higher lessons. 
All true Christians set apart special times for prayer. 
They would find it good also to have special seasons for 
praise. Adoration and thanksgiving do not, in general, 
bear an adequate proportion to the petitionary part of 
our worship. 

This world has been compared to a music book, divi- 
ded by empty spaces and black lines, yet on each of these 
there is a note, and he must sing who learns it. Praise 
God, then, as your Creator ; praise him as your Pre- 
server ; praise him as the Almighty ; praise him as the 
just and righteous Lord ; praise him as the supreme 
Ruler and Governor of all things. If God appear to 
your apprehension only as great and terrible, yet praise 
him as such, and his terribleness shall not make you 
afraid. It is because you do not praise as you proceed, 
that your progress in heavenly knowledge is so slow. 
He who thanks God for what little he has learned, shall 
surely be taught more. A grateful heart makes us ac- 
tive and improving servants. He that doeth his will 
shall know of the doctrine, John vii. 17 ; shall be in- 
structed in all wisdom. Ye timid Christians, deprive 
not the Lord of the honour due unto his name. While 
you mourn over your sins, praise him who has taught 
you to hate them ; be afraid of being lost, and praise 
him that you are not lost already : look upon yourself 

19* 



222 THE INVITATION. 

as nothing, and praise him who gave Chrijt to be your 
all in all ; think little of your own prayers and resolu- 
tions, and praise him who came to pray and intercede 
on your behalf. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him. If 
you cannot praise him for what you are, thank him for 
what you are not — that you are not bhnd, and deaf, and 
dead, in soul and body both ; that you are not as care- 
less and worldly-minded, and fond of sin, as you were 
before. Should fears and doubts, however, so harass 
your spirit, that you cannot praise God on your own ac- 
count, rouse yourself to praise him for what he has done 
for others. Praise him for the deliverance vouchsafed to 
your Lord and Saviour on the cross, and for that glorious 
work which he wrought in Christ when he raised him 
from the dead ; praise him for all that he has done in 
the Church^his acts of grace in apostles, prophets, and 
martyrs of old time; and in sin-denying, holy-living, 
Christians in the world around you ; praise him for the 
Scriptures of truth ; the means of grace ; the hope, how- 
ever faint, of salvation. Let every, fearer of the Lord 
thus endeavour to occupy his thoughts with subjects of 
praise, and he shall soon advance to higher strains, even 
to the glorifying of God's great name. 

Such are the seed of Jacob ; these are scholars whom 
the law, as a schoolmaster, has brought unto Christ ; 
these are they who lay hold on the heel, the bruised 
heel, of their elder Brother. Jacob, strictly signifies, the 
heeler ; that is, one who lays hold upon the heel, and 
gains an advantage by another's fall. Jacob did so 
when he was born ; it was his first act, therefore he 
was named Jacob, Gen. xxv. 26. So is it with some 
Christians in their new spiritual birth ; they are enabled 
by the Spirit of God to lay hold at once of the bruised 
heel of their elder Brother, and through his fall and hu- 
miliation, rise to hope and heaven ; they have no con- 



THE INVITATION. 223 

sciousness of spiritual existence^ but what is connected 
with the knowledge of a crucified Redeemer ; they learn 
the first, in the second, lesson ; they feel a fear, and a 
love, of God, springing up in their hearts at one and 
the same moment ; they cannot say that they have ex- 
perienced all those fears and apprehensions of which 
others speak ; but yet they have learned the name of 
God in Christ, and are satisfied; they are glad they 
praise the Lord, yea, they glorify him. Stirred up by a 
powerful gratitude, they seek to spend and to be spent 
in his service ; they cannot think enough of his good- 
ness ; they cannot speak enough of his love ; they can- 
not do enough in his service ; they occupy their thoughts 
in heavenly meditations ; they speak often one to an- 
other, and their hearts burn with holy love and grati- 
tude to God. That day they regard as lost, which does 
not witness some labour of love, some act of charity, for 
his name's sake. 

Such are the seed of Jacob. We have described them 
thus when their " first love," Rev. ii. 4, is fresh and full ; 
but yet, it may be, that after a while they shall expe- 
rience the life of their father Jacob ; tliey may have to 
wander far, and be exposed to trials ; before some of 
these, they may fall, to show them their own weakness ; 
over others, they may be carried harmless, to teach them 
the strength of him who bears them. But as they jour- 
ney on, it will be their principal desire to glorify God ; 
the main bent of their minds will be to honour his holy 
name ; they will vow to be faithful servants unto death ; 
the Lord shall be their God whithersoever they may be 
led ; the gods of the people amongst whom they come 
shall not receive the homage of their hearts. Should 
Providence bring them into a lower capacity, so that 
their lot be to serve others, j'^et will they so strive to glo- 
rify God in all their conduct, that when about to depart, 



224 THE INVITATION. 

their superiors may have reason to desire their continu- 
ance, and to add, " For we have learned by experience 
that the Lord hath blessed us for your sake," Gen. xxx. 
27. Again, through the kindness of the Most High, 
should they be blessed abundantly on every side, so that 
all that they have is multiplied, they will glorify the 
Lord in it all, and say, " We are not worthy of the least 
of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast 
showed unto thy servants/' Gen. xxxii. 10. 

Thus,^throughout their whole life, the true seed of Ja- 
cob will glorify the Lord. Here they are invited to do 
so, and they willingly comply. Is not our God worthy 
to be honoured and extolled ? Did he not give his own 
Son out of his bosom, to an ignominious and painful 
death, that they might never die ? Will they not there- 
fore glorify him ? When that Son was dying on the 
cross, did he not hear his cry and answer his petition — 
accepting the Surety for the sinner? Will they not 
therefore glorify him ? Hear how the Saviour encour- 
aged his followers to do so, " Herein is my Father glo- 
rified, that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be my disci- 
ples," John XV. 8. Will the servant disobey the master? 
Surely he would not willingly offend. He will seek to 
abound in services of love ; nor will he ever be contented 
with himself, till he have testified his inward gratitude 
by his outward obedience. The true seed of Jacob is 
not one that is satisfied with the religion of the head, or 
of the lip. He seeks to possess that of the heart, and of 
the life. His is not a sentimental, but a practical, piety. 
It evaporates not in warm emotions, or flowing words, 
but proves its vitality by act and deed. He has learned 
that without holiness no man shall see the Lord ; and 
the first desire of his heart is to be holy in all manner 
of conversation. He knows that he cannot prove his 
love to God, but by his love to man, anc' therefore is 



THE INVITATION. 226 

ready both to do, and to give, for the benefit of his neigh- 
bour. He thus proves himself to be the true disciple of 
him, who glorified God, by going about continually do- 
ing good. Nor does he secretly exult in his own good- 
ness, or build on his own righteousness. He knows that 
before a perfect God, no work of an imperfect being can 
merit acceptance ; and that, by the perfect law, it must 
be condemned. Therefore, having no right in himself 
to the inheritance, hke one of the true seed of Jacob, he 
takes hold of his Elder Brother ; he lays his hand on 
that bruised heel, the humanity of Christ crucified. Gen. 
iii. 15. Nor will he let go his hold. It is his hfe. He 
takes all his righteousness from him. He obtains the 
blessing, the inheritance, from that elder brother, not an 
Esau who curses, but a Jesus who blesses. 

How shall we further describe the true Christian 7 
Is not his private life spent in prayer ? His public life, 
is it not one of conformity to the pattern of Christ? 
His eye is more strict to watch the movements of his 
own heart, than to scrutinize the motives of the hearts 
of others. He knows his own shortcomings are many, 
and does not enlarge on the failings of his neighbours. 
Yet to their sins, he is not blind, as to his own he is not 
partial. Words of love and faithfulness are not so un- 
accustomed to his tongue, as are those of flattery and 
praise. He loves his friends, and therefore desires to see 
them free from every fault. While others are talking at 
a neighbour's back, he is expostulating with him face to 
face. He silences the scandalous, by refusing to take up 
their report ; or confounds their faces, by demanding 
their authority for its truth. His maxim is not to please 
himself, but to glorify his God. When surrounded by 
trials, when placed in circumstances of painful perplexity, 
when apparently about to lose all that is most dear to 
him in life, he does not trust in his own prudence, or lean 



226 THE INVITATION. 

on his own strength, but after having done all, and 
while doing all, that man can do, he trusts only in the 
unerring wisdom, the sustaining power, and unfaihng re- 
sources, of a covenant God, on whose love in Christ he 
casts his burden. If his petitions do not immediately 
succeed, he does not faint, he cries again and again. 
The closet of prayer is his field of spiritual combat. 
He Avrestles on in earnestness of supplication, Hosea xii. 
3 — 6. He follows the Lord with importunity of spirit, 
and because it is the glory of God which he desires, he 
will not allow himself to be denied. He brings forth 
strong arguments, and like his father of old exclaims, ^' I 
wull not let thee go, except thou bless me." Thus he 
prevails with God, and obtains a new name, becoming 
henceforth one of the seed of Israel. " Thy name shall 
be called no more Jacob, but Israel ; for as a prince hast 
thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed," 
Gen. xxxii. 28. 

The seed of Israel are called upon to ^' fear," that is, 
to reverence the Lord. The word rendered " fear" in 
the first part of the verse, is not the same with that, 
which is so translated in this last clause. The former 
means to be afraid ; it denotes timidity, anxiety of appre- 
hension, dread. The latter signifies to reverence, to re- 
gard with respect, to hold in veneration and esteem. It 
is used to denote that sentiment, with which an inferior 
should regard a superior. The w^ord reverence is the 
most appropriate in this place. The original term is 
likewise employed to express a high degree of fear or ter- 
ror, but generally when arising from a sense of superior 
force, power, or greatness. As applied here to the seed 
of Israel, it is remarkably appropriate. Let all such 
ponder the duty which it enjoins, for the evil against 
which it guards them is of an insidious nature. Rever- 
ence God : " Be not high-minded, but fear." Boast 



THE INVITATION. 227 

not — thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. ^- Work 
out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is 
God that worketh in you." These New Testament 
warnings are similar to that of the text. They are ad- 
dressed to those who are supposed to know by experi- 
ence, the power of believing prayer. They have pre- 
vailed with God, let them not presume. They have 
obtained a new name, let them guard against spiritual 
pride. When Jacob had wrestled and prevailed with 
the angel of the covenant, he might have felt tempted to 
think highly of himself This great condescension of 
God towards him, might beget, through the suggestions 
of Satan, low thoughts of heavenly power, and lofty ideas 
of his own. Thus, that holy awe and reverence, which 
ought to characterize every creature, when thinking, and 
speaking, of the God of heaven, might be destroyed. 
That lowhness, that abasement of spirit, that renuncia- 
tion of our own w^ill in prayer, which Christ himself ex- 
hibited, might be displaced by sentiments of an opposite 
nature. Jacob might have conceived that it was rather 
his own power that prevailed, than the intentional and 
amazing, condescension of God that yielded. On suc- 
ceeding occasions, he might approach the throne of grace, 
more as a prince, than as a supplicant. His prayer 
might partake more of the nature of a demand, than of 
a request. And, with an irreverent familiarity, he might 
now address that great and glorious Being, for whom 
before he entertained a holy awe. To this surnamed 
Israel we would say, " Shrink back." To all his seed, 
Christ here says, " Reverence Godj^^ — mildly couching 
his command under the form of an invitation to join his 
eucharistic song. The Lord Jesus is our Israel, of whom 
Jacob was the type. He, too, has prevailed with God ; 
but he diminished not by one iota, that holy reverence 
with which he regarded his Father. The saints m 



228 THE INVITATION. 

heaven have all more or less prevailed, Heb. xi. 33, 34 ; 
yet there, they cast their crowns in humble abasement 
at his feet. 

Let all the seed of Israel, then, revere their God. As 
they must not overlook the Godhead of Christ, in his 
manhood, so let them not forget the condescension of the 
Hearer of prayer, in iheir own victories by prayer. How 
grievous is it, that men should address their heavenly 
Father in terms of earthly friendship and famiharity ; 
should mistake the vociferations of over-wrought feeling, 
for the wrestlings of true faith ; and substitute a long 
and loud supplication, for a child-like waiting upon God ! 
Alas, that any disciples of Christ should act like the 
priests of Baal ! Unhappy men ! they leap and cry 
aloud after their manner ! Their god is talking, or pur- 
suing, or on a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and 
must be awaked. But our God is the living God, the 
all-present King : emphatically denominated " The 
Hearer of prayer ^^'^ in contrast to the deaf and dumb 
gods of the heathen nations. Why, then, should pro- 
fessing Christians act towards their Lord as if he were 
no better than these ? Why should they shout, as though 
God were unable or unwilling to hear, '' fatiguing Heaven 
with the prodigious'clamour of their outrageous entreaty?" 
Let it not be so with the seed of Israel. Well meaning, 
but mistaken Christians, have fallen into this snare, in 
every age. A caution, therefore, on this point, is highly 
necessary at all times, and to all classes of persons. Of 
all these three classes of professing Christians, none re- 
quire to be more on their guard than the last. To hve 
in the fear of God, or to be self-denying and diligent in 
glorifying his name, are not the paths in which mere 
professors, or designing hypocrites, love to walk. Men 
seldom put on any appearance, but that which is most at- 
tractive. A specious profession, a mouth that maketh 



THE INVITATION. 229 

much love, and a frequent use of peculiar words and 
phrases, high-sounding names and titles, are the things 
they lay hold of in religion. They have enUsted to wear 
the uniform, but not to fight the battles, of the soldiers 
of the cross. They call themselves the seed of Israel, 
princes among common Christians, and favourites of 
Heaven. But it is not he that commendeth himself that 
is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth, 2 Cor. x. 
18. The Israelite indeed is a man without guile, John 
i. 47. He seeks not the approbation of men, but strives 
to commend himself in all things to God. He has fully, 
and experimentally, learned the various lessons of the 
school of Christ. He fears the Lord in his inmost heart. 
He glorifies the Lord in his outward conduct. He rever- 
ences the Lord with the most sacred sentiments of his 
soul. The first petition in his prayer invariably is, 
*' Hallowed be thy nameP When an answer is vouch- 
safed to his entreaties, his language is not, "I have pre- 
vailed," but simply and humbly, " Thou hast heard me." 
If, naturally, of an ardent spirit, he strives to keep it in 
check ; and remembers that so long as he is in the body, 
he requires to be most upon his guard, when most con- 
scious of the love and approbation of his Lord. Peter 
had no sooner obtained a blessing, than he brought him- 
self under a rebuke. Let us, with John, even though 
leaning on our Lord's bosom, always address him with 
REVERENTIAL LOYE. This is the highest, and 
most blessed, state of feeling to which we can attain. It 
is that of the Redeemed above ; it is that of Christ upon 
the cross ; it is that to which he here invites us ; it is 
that which we shall possess in the eternal world of glory 
— LOVE, bounded by no sentiment, but that of rever- 
ence ; — REVERENCE, adorned and actuated by a love 
as boundless as it shall be everlasting. 

20 



THE TESTIMONY. 



Verse 24. — For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction 
of the afflicted ; neither hath he hid his face from him. But 
when he cried unto him he heard. 

When the Scriptures call to the performance of duty, 
they present us at the same time with a suitable and ad- 
equate reason. Here is an instance. The three classes 
of the Master's scholars had been invited to join him in 
praising God, and a powerful reason is added, drawn 
from his experience of God's faithfulness. He bears his 
testimony on the Lord's behalf. He seems to place him- 
self in the position of the Psalmist, when he says, 
" Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare 
what he hath done for my soul," Psa. Ixvi. 17. Christ 
had cried, '- Why hast thou forsaken me ?" He had 
complained to his Father that his distress was unnoticed, 
that his cries were unheard. But he testifies his good- 
ness ; records his clemency, his mercy, and his love ; 
and excites his Church's gratitude and praise by this 
encouraging reason, for God ^' hath not despised nor ab- 
horred the affliction of the afflicted ; neither hath he hid 
his face from him, but when he cried unto him, he 
heard." 

What a direct refutation does this give to all the taunts 
and accusations of his crucifiers ! They had insinuated 
that God would not have him, that he had no delight in 
him. But here Christ testifies, " God has not despised 
nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted." They had 
said that God would not listen to his prayers, but here 



THE TESTIMONY. 231 

Christ declares, " When I cried unto him, he heard." 
And lest his own cry of God's desertion, and forsaking? 
should aflaict the minds of his disciples, he further deci- 
dedly asserts, " God hath not hid his face from me." 
Comforting assurance ! Christ descended not into the 
tomb under the hiding of his Father's face. The dark- 
ness was over all the land only " until the ninth hour." 
Then the light returned ; and, with the material, came 
also the spiritual light. The one relieved the face of 
nature, the other relieved the heart of Christ. It reheves 
our hearts also. It comforts us to know, that the ever- 
blessed Redeemer died in a calm of soul, and that before 
he left this life he w^as able to declare that his Father's 
face was turned to him in love. Forsaking was strictly 
a judicial act. It was the act of a just and righteous 
Judge. But there w^as no change in the heart of the 
Father, towards his well-beloved Son. The bosom of 
love still yearned towards him, though the countenance 
of love was turned away. Why w^as it averted ? Be- 
cause the eye met sin ; that thing which God cannot 
look upon without abhorrence, was laid on Christ. 
Therefore was the countenance of the Father with- 
drawal! . For this reason, and this reason only, was the 
Holy One forsaken. With all the emphasis of w^iich 
language is capable, let it be declared tfiat there was no 
abhorrence of the Bearer, but only of the burden. Let 
this distinction be fully borne in mind. Let it be ever 
before our thoughts, bright with the light of eternal truth 
— God could not but abhor the one ; God could not ab- 
hor the other. This was all purity, all righteousness. 
That was all vile, all repulsive. Had a mere man 
borne the sins of the world, both burden and bearer 
must have been objects of the Divine wrath. But in 
the case of Christ, it could be the burden only. Yet be- 
cause he took it up, and was in the «ye of the law cov 



232 THE TESTIMONY. 

ered with imputed sin, the hght of God's countenance 
was for a time turned away. Under this judicial deser- 
tion, Christ fixed his faith and hope, not on the counte- 
nance of the Judge, but on the heart of the Father. 
Had that been turned away, there could be nothing to 
trust in. This is, therefore, an important distinction, 
both as regards Christ our Master and ourselves. It 
teaches us, in the darkest trial, to know where our 
strength lies. It furnishes us with food of an imper- 
ishable faith. It shows how Christ prayed, and how, 
as the great Advocate, he prevailed. It admits us with- 
in the veil, and unfolds how the anchor is both sure and 
stedfast. It presents Christ himself, safely passed 
through an awful storm by its unyielding hold. That 
anchor is the loving-kindness of Jehovah, which takes 
sure hold by the promise on the one side, and the oath 
of God on the other. Thus, our Lord on the cross, and 
all who have fled to it for refugfe, found strong consola- 
tion by these two immutable things, in which it is im- 
possible for God to lie, Heb. vi. 17 — 20. Let it therefore 
be deeply impressed upon your hearts, that God is love ; 
while he loves not your sin, yet be persuaded that he 
loves your soul. Keep this distinction plainly before 
your mind. The apostle exhorts you to do so. He 
says, " Faint not when thou art rebuked of him, for 
whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth," Heb. xii. 5. Let 
your adversities, therefore, teach you a better lesson than 
your prosperities can possibly render. Let them be to- 
kens to you of the love that dwells in the heart of God. 
Though you can perceive nothing but the uplifted rod, 
yet believe that the band that wields it is your Father's, 
and that his heart towards you is love. Thus shall you 
be comforted in trouble, strengthened in weakness, and 
rendered victorious over every temptation. Thus shall 
you be like your Lord. Thus shall you be able, in time 



THE TESTIMONY. 233 

and in eternity, to bear your feeble, but unfaltering, testi- 
mony, to the faithfulness of Jehovah, and to call on all 
around you to join your hymn of thanksgiving ; saying, 
for God " hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of 
the afflicted ; neither hath he hid his face from him, 
but when he cried unto him, he heard." 

The intention of all, even the severest, trials is to 
glorify God. During their continuance they are indeed 
grievous. One hour of pain appears longer than a day, 
and a whole day of joy passes Uke an hour. This 
shows how erroneous all judgment founded on appear- 
ances must be. In providential dispensations, God often 
appears to be rather an enemy than a friend. At such 
seasons, then, remember that it is said in the Proverbs, 
" Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of 
an enemy are deceitful," xxvii. 6. Let these very wounds, 
under which you smart, be proofs to you that God is a 
friend, and not an enemy. Seek not, then, to exchange 
your gifts for deceitful gratifications. The more severe 
the trial is, the greater is the opportunity afforded you to 
glorify God. The worst of all sorrows, deprivation of 
his comforting presence, puts you in a situation to prove 
that you love the Lord for hfmself alone, and not for a 
selfish end : this honours God, and confounds Satan, Job 
i. 9. Still confide, then, in God's powder and wilHngness 
to grant desired relief. Faith in the love and wiUing- 
ness of a heavenly Father, is the stay of the oppressed 
heart ; it imparts strength to prayer, and life to interces- 
sion. Therefore, to unsettle our minds in regard to the 
love of God, is the great aim of the adversary of the 
soul. It is a fundamental doctrine of holy Scripture, 
that God smites in love ; we are told to receive his chas- 
tisements as means intended for our good. All inflictions 
are certainly rods of wrath, but it is wTath springing 
from love. To those who are " new creatures" in Christ 

20* 



234 THE TESTIMONY. 

Jesus, these afflictions are, moreover, proofs of paternal 
affection, showing that " God dealeth with them as with 
sons ;" but in reftrence to human beings, still out of tor- 
ment, or who are not judicially abandoned by the Spirit 
of grace, all afflictions are intended either for their tem- 
poral or eternal good ; and can only fail by their resist- 
ance to the grace of God. The last pang which dying 
nature feels is the infliction of a God, whose longsuffer- 
ing mercy is come to an end, or whose work of grace in 
the furnace is completed. 

Throughout the whole of life, by daily preservation, 
the bounties of nature, and constant occasions of glad- 
ness, there is unceasing testimony given to men of the 
love and goodness of their Creator. The things that are 
seen — the flowing rivers, the boundless ocean, the span- 
gled heavens, the verdant landscape, the majestic moun- 
tains, the animal creation, wild and tame, testify his 
eternal power and Godhead, his beneficence and love. 
Thus man is without excuse. And though there be a 
thorn with every rose, it is love still, goodness still. The 
flower is uppermost, nearest, most inviting ; its fragrance 
ascends upwards, and diffuses itself around ; the sweet 
voice of its breathing teaches man's heart to rise with 
thankfulness to God ; but if the ungrateful mortal grovel 
still with downward eye and hand, it is kind to prick 
him for his earthliness. Were the thorn placed where 
the rose is ; were it as large and many-edged as are its 
petals ; were it as tempting in colour, inviting in fra- 
grance, and still as sharp and piercing in itself, we might 
well imagine with the heathen, that the earth was made 
by an evil spirit, who delights in the misfortunes and 
miseries of his creatures. But it is not so. The book 
of nature teaches by every leaf, that " God is love." 
The Book of Revelation twice declares in a single chap- 
ter " God is love ; God is love," 1 John iv. 8, 16. 



THE TESTIMONY. 235 

Many are the proofs of this truth, which Nature, Scrip- 
ture, and our own experience furnish. The answering 
of prayer is not the least of the believer's testimonies 
that God is love. When, like the Psalmist, we have ap- 
proached the throne of grace in sorrow of heart and de- 
pression of spirit, how often have we risen from our 
knees with relieved and grateful feeUngs ! The gracious 
Friend of sinners has exchanged his yoke with us for 
ours. Weary and heavy laden, we go to him and find 
rest. How easy is his yoke to the neck, how light his 
burden to the shoulder ! Matt. xi. 28, 30. It is a yoke 
of love, a burden of joy ! Prayer puts our burden upon 
Christ, and ourselves under his yoke. " This poor man 
cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all 
his troubles," Psa. xxxiv. 6. -'I love the Lord, because 
he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because 
he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call 
upon him as long as I live," Psa. cxvi. 1, 2. "Come 
and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what 
he hath done for my soul. I cried unto him with my 
mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue. If I re- 
gard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. 
But verily God hath heard me : he hath attended to the 
voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not 
turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me," Psa. 
Ixvi. 16—20. 

Is the Christian, then, surrounded by trial? Is he 
overwhelmed ? Does he seem to be cast out of God's 
sight, and feel as though far oJfF from his presence? 
Prayer will bring him nigh. Prayer will effect his com- 
plete deliverance. But it must be true prayer. It must 
be an earnest appeal of our hearts to the heart of God, 
through Jesus Christ. " Ye shall seek me and find me, 
when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And 
I will be found of you, saith the Lord," Isa. xxix. 13, 



236 THE TESTIMONY. 

14. Is the Christian, then, under the dark cloud of tem- 
poral or spiritual trial ? Has the nearest and dearest ob- 
ject of his heart been removed out of his sight by the re- 
lentless hand of death ? Do lingering sickness and dis- 
ease detain him in yearly endurance ? Or is poverty, and 
its attendant evils, come upon him with its iron grasp ? 
Prayer will bring the Comforter, the Physician, the Om- 
nipotent, to his aid ; for, whatever be his circumstances, 
this is the scriptural exhortation, " Trust in him at ALL 
TIMES : ye people, pour out your heart before him : 
God is a refuge for us," Psa. Ixii. 8. Let him therefore 
say, " Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me," Isa. 
xxxviii. 14. ^' Hear my cry, O God ; attend unto my 
prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, 
when my heart is overwhelmed ; lead me to the rock 
that is higher than I ;" Psa. Ixi. 1, 2. The Lord will 
not despise his supplication. It is positively declared, in 
reference to prayer, " the Lord upbraideth not," James i. 
5. Persuasion of the Lord's willingness to hear, and 
tenderness of consideration, enlarges our hearts in prayer 
before him. The psalmist knew this, and said, " O thou 
that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come," Psa. 
Ixv. 2. Yes, " whosoever shall call upon the name of 
the Lord shall be saved," Rom. x. 13. " God never said 
to any of the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain," Isa. 
xlv. 19. " The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender 
mercy," James v. 11. Men are often brought low by 
their own iniquity, nevertheless God regards their afflic- 
tion, when he hears their cry, Psa. cvi. 44. " A broken 
and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise," Psa. 
li. 17. The heart of our blessed Lord was broken on the 
cross, but there also it was healed. Though his Father 
had not for a time attended to his prayer, he had never 
despised it ; though he abhorred the burden which Jesus 
had taken upon him, be had never abhorred the afflic- 



THE TESTIMONY. 237 

Hon of its afflicted Bearer. Though he hid his face from 
him as a Judge, he shut not his heart against him as a 
Father, but when he cried unto him he heard. We may 
therefore apply to Jesus on the cross, what is spoken by 
the prophet, in the name of the Lord, to the afflicted 
Church, " For a small moment have I forsaken thee ; 
but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little 
wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment ; but with 
everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee," Isa. 
liv. 7, 8. 



THE VOW. 



Verse 25 — My praise shall be of thee in the great congregar 
Hon : I will pay my vows before them that fear him. 

The joy and gratitude of our adorable Lord rise to 
such a height at this great deUverance — his heart so 
overflows with fresh and blessed consciousness of his 
heavenly Father's nearness, that he again pours forth 
the expression of his praise. By its repetition, he 
teaches us that this is not a temporary burst of grati- 
tude, but an abiding determination, a full and settled 
resolution. He puts it, like the preceding twenty-second 
verse, into the form of a vow, but carries forward his 
thoughts to a higher and eternal object, "My praise 
shall be of thee in the great congregation." 

The " great congregation" is a phrase taken from the 
assembling of the tribes, from all parts of the land of 
Israel, 1 Kings viii. 65. At such seasons, our blessed 
Lord was ever ready to fulfil his high commission. In 
the synagogues of the different places to which he came, 
and in the Temple when he arrived, did our Saviour 
proclaim to the assembled multitudes, the acceptable 
year of the Lord. We may fully apply to him the words 
of the Psalmist, " I have preached righteousness in the 
great congregation : lo, I have not refrained my lips, O 
Lord, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness 
within my heart ! I have declared thy faithfulness and 
thy salvation : I have not concealed thy loving-kindness 
and thy truth from the great congregation," Psa. xl. 9, 
10. In the gospel of St. John our adorable Redeemer is 
exhibited before our eyes, as in a moral picture, in the 



THE VOW. 



239 



very act which the Psalmist here foretells, " In the last 
day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, 
saying. If any man thirst, let him come unto me and 
drink. He that beUeveth on me, as the Scripture hath 
said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of hving water. 
(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that beheve 
on him should receive : for the Holy Ghost was not yet 
given ; because that Jesus was not yet glorified,") John 
vii. 37—39. 

The earthly Jerusalem and Temple were typical of 
heaven, and its worshipping hosts, Heb. ix. 9. The 
apostle thus explains it, and says, ^^ Jerusalem which is 
above is free, which is the mother of us all," Gal. iv. 26. 
In the Epistle to the Hebrews, he represents the once 
crucified, but ever exalted, Saviour, as entered into the 
holy place of a gi'eater and more perfect temple — stand- 
ing there as a mediator, and presenting the blood of 
sprinkling in fulfilment of his vow. The twenty-second 
verse of this psalm informed us, that in the midst of the 
Church, while it continues militant on earth, Christ will 
praise his Father : and here we are assured that in 
heaven itself, in the general assembly and Church of the 
first-born, in the city of the living God, the heavenly Je- 
rusalem, his praises shall be heard, and his vows be per- 
formed. Heb. ix. 24 ; xii. 22—24. 

No sooner was this promise made, than it was accom- 
plished. In a few seconds after the period at which we 
conceive that our Lord inwardly repeated this verse,, he 
performed his vow, and breathed out his spirit into the 
hands of his Father. Then the soul of Jesus entered 
into the world of spirits ; there in the presence of the re- 
deemed, and of all the listening angels, did he present 
his praises to his Father and their Father, to his God and 
their God. Shortly after, also, did the soul of the pen- 



240 THE vow. 

itent malefactor appear in Paradise, to add his joyful 
praises to their grateful notes. 

The faithful Redeemer is still fulfiUing his vows in 
the experience of every believer. He carries on his in- 
tercession in heaven, and he sends down his Spirit on 
earth. The good Shepherd still careth for his sheep, 
and assures our hearts of his love, by declaring to us his 
duty, " As the Father gave me commandment, even so 
I do," John xii. 49 ; xiv. 31. And he is still " doing" 
at the court of heaven all that is needful for his Church. 
The souls of the redeemed, are now beholding how faith- 
fully he there discharges his " commanded duty," as 
High Priest and Advocate, on behalf of their brethren 
who are still on the earth. 

The " great congregation" in which our Lord vows to 
offer high praises to Jehovah, signifies, in its fullest sense, 
that assembly in which the whole company of the re- 
deemed shall meet, and be united for ever. A great 
congregation, indeed, shall then assemble, from Abel, the 
first soul that was saved, to the last man of God's elect, 
who shall be snatched from off this burning world. 
Then, and there, will Christ pay his vows. These vows 
are, that he would fulfil all the Father's will, and that he 
would lose none of those whom the Father should give 
to him. These vows are, that he, as the head, and that 
the redeemed, as the members of his body, should give 
praise and glory to God, in place of all that shame and 
dishonour which the first Adam and his posterity had 
wrought. With all the glorious company of his re- 
deemed, shall the once despised Jesus of Nazareth stand 
forth, the admiration of angels, and give utterance to 
those praises which the brief period of time shall supply 
to awaken the echoes of eternity ! 

He will pay his vows before them that " fear him." 
As this term includes all his people, so it assures those 



THE VOW. 241 

timid, but sincere Christians, who, though not ashamed 
to confess his name, are yet afraid to Appropriate his 
promises, that they shall not be left out. None shall be 
lost. Christ as their head, as the Father of the ever- 
lasting age, Isa. ix. 6, shall present himself, and all who 
have truly loved him, before the throne, and say. Behold 
me, and the children thou has given me, Heb. ii. 13. 

Such we may conceive to be, in part, the fulfilment 
of the Saviour's vows, at the period of his everlasting 
glory. To place, beyond all doubt, the integrity of his 
purpose, he has not left one unfulfilled, in the progress 
of his earthly humiliation. To the most minute partic- 
ular of his Father's will, did our Lord attend with scru- 
pulous exactness. And it might be, just at this moment, 
in harmony with this verse, that our expiring Lord said, 
^' I thirst." Some may consider this to have been uttered 
in connexion rather with the fifteenth verse, as a proof 
of the exhaustion of his frame. This may appear to be 
more natural, but we rather incline to regard it as spo- 
ken at this time, in token of his willingness to fulfil all 
that was required of him. The statement of the evan- 
gelist leads us to conclude that these two words, '• I 
thirst," were uttered out of a sense of duty, and with 
express intention to fulfil all that was written of him. 
^^ After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now 
accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith, 
I thirst," John xix. 28. Therefore, that not one thing 
might be left undone, unsuflered, unfulfilled, he said it. 
He was faithful in all things. His vows were fully per- 
formed. To the very last mite, the Surety paid our 
debt ; he drank to the very dregs that cup of suffering 
which had been prepared for him. Therefore, in imita- 
tion of thy example, we thine unworthy disciples shall 
say, with the strongest and most grateful determination, 
with our living voice, our dying breath, \Hth our Fong 

21 



242 THE vow. 

of time, our hymn of eternity, " Our praise shall be of 
thee in the great congregation : we will pay our vows 
before them that* fear thee." 

Bring home this lesson. Christian reader, to thy heart. 
Christ made no vow, which he did not perform. How 
many hast thou uttered, which thou hast never fulfilled? 
On the bed of sickness, and in the prospect of death ; on 
the stormy deep, in expectation of shipwreck ; at the 
couch of a beloved relative, under fear of bereavement ; 
in the hour of want, distress, and perplexity ; how many 
vows have been sent up to the registry of heaven? 
When the Father heard your cry, and granted deliver- 
ance, how long has he been made to wait for the per- 
formance of your promise ? Perhaps he is waiting till 
now. Recollect thyself, God is not to be mocked. When 
thou makest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it ; for he 
hath no pleasure in fools, Eccles. v. 4, who cry out speed- 
ily in distress, and laugh when the danger is over. Go 
back, then, in thy history. Recall the scenes and stages 
of life, through which thou hast passed. Let not mem- 
ory be treacherous. Let not conscience be partial. Deal 
honestly with thyself There is no unfaithfulness in the 
Lord, who will surely require of thee thy vows, Deut. 
xxiii. 21. " Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, 
than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not 
thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin ; neither say thou 
before the angel that it was an error : wherefore should 
God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine 
hands ?" Eccles. v. 5, 6. " Therefore, be not rash with 
thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter' 
(even mentally) " any thing before God : for God is in 
heaven and thou upon the earth, therefore let thy words 
be few," V. 2. 

It is a solemn fact, proved in the experience of all 
ministers, tlftt, on an average, only two or three per 



THE VOW. 243 

sons out of thousands, perform those vows in health, 
which, with so much earnestness, they had made on the 
bed of sickness. This is an appaUing truth, and casts 
a dark shade over death-bed repentance. We would 
discourage none, even at the eleventh hour, from apply- 
ing to Christ, who will in no wise cast out any who truly 
turn to him. But the heart is so deceitful, no human 
being can pronounce an opinion on the truth even of his 
own repentance, when it is not tested by contact with 
the world, and its temptations. While on this side of 
the grave, we must warn all, not to trust on an uncer- 
tain basis. Beyond the bourne of life, we follow no 
man. Human judgment is suspended, when a creature 
passes into the court of that Judge, wIjo knows the secret 
state of every heart, and who never pronounces a sen- 
tence, in the justice of which the conscience of the crimi- 
nal himself does not fully acquiesce ! If, then, dear 
reader, thou art putting off thy repentance to another 
day, be entreated now while it is called to-day. " Be- 
hold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day 
of salvation," 2 Cor. vi. 2. To-morrow may be too late. 
There may be no to-morrow in thy mortal history. If 
there are vows, O Christian, still unfulfilled, standing 
against you, confess your sin immediately ; cry to the 
Holy Spirit for strength and integrity of determination ; 
give yourself no rest, till you have discharged the solemn 
obliofations, under which you lie, to glorify God, by fully 
and daily performing your vows, Psa. Ixi. 8 ; and press 
forward to a cheerful compliance with the exhortatory 
invitation of the apostle, " By Jesus, therefore, let us 
offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, 
the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name," Heb. 
xiii. 15. 



THE SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 



Verse 26. — Tlie meek shall eat and he satisfied. 

The narrative of the gospel informs us that when 
our Lord had fulfilled the last prophecy of Scripture re- 
lating to his mortal life, and had cried. "I thirst/' that 
one, standing by, held a sponge with vinegar to his 
mouth. And here we picture to our minds that the Sa- 
viour, as if feeling the raging thirst more intensely by this 
partial relief, turned at once, and for ever, from all 
earthly supports, as empty and insufficient, and solaced 
his mind with meditation on the river of God's pleasure 
again opened to him, and on that refreshing, satisfying, 
and unfailing water of Hfe, which he would give to his 
people, with the living bread. So abundant does his 
own prepared gospel feast appear in contrast with this 
unsatisfying sip, which he had just received, that he de- 
clares, " The meek shall eat and be satisfied." 

In these words our Lord describes the character of his 
disciples, their privilege, and their condition. First, their 
character is " the meek." The disciple should resemble 
the Master. The characteristic feature of our blessed 
Lord was that of meekness. He desires his people to be 
like-minded. " Learn of me," he says, " for I am meek 
and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto 3^our 
souls," Matt. xi. 29. The wisdom of the schools had 
never inculcated this lesson. When " the Teacher" 
came, his doctrine was despised as tame and mean. 
How true is it, " that the natural man receiveth not the 



SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 245 

things of the Spirit of God, because they are foolishness 
unto him !" 1 Cor. ii. 14. And how true also is the 
converse, " the wisdom of this world is foolishness with 
God !" ch. iii. 19. To possess a high and noble spirit, 
to be able to maintain our dignity, to resent all affronts 
with effect, and bend before the power of no man, is 
matter of much importance in the estimation of the 
world. It is deemed wisdom, strength, and greatness. 
Some, however, of the ancient philosophers could spurn 
even this as beneath them. They aspired to the dignity 
of a perpetual calm, which no wickedness could ruffle, 
no evils disturb. Their stoical serenity, was an artificial 
compound of selfishness, pride, and apathy. No such in- 
gredients enter into Christian meekness. It is the meek- 
ness of wisdom, James iii. 13 ; of a wisdom based on a 
knowledge of self, that humbles; a knowledge of God, 
that softens ; a knowledge of the vanity of time, and the 
importance of eternity, that abases the soul. This meek- 
ness, too, is one of the fruits of the Spirit, Gal. v. 23 ; it 
is not a native production of the human heart, in this 
fallen state. There is a mildness and softness, natural 
to some men, which have much of the appearance, but 
may not possess the qualities, of genuine meekness. 
This shows itself towards all men, Titus iii. 2. It is not 
gentle before superiors, and tyrannical to inferiors. It 
walks with "all lowliness;" forces not its opinion upon 
others or itself before them, Eph. iv. 2. Instead of con- 
tending with those that oppose themselves, it sets itself 
rather to instruct them for their good, 2 Tim. ii. 25. 
And rather than retain even a just displeasure at offend- 
ers, is anxious for their amendment, and willing to re- 
store them to favour. Gal. vi. 1. True meekness has a 
constant regard to God, yields every thing to his guidance, 
and murmurs not at the severest of his providential dis- 
pensations. A full and perfect example of this virtue 

2V 



246 SATISFACTION OF TH£ MEEK. 

was never, but once, exhibited on earth. That example 
was our Lord. He was invariably meek. Even Moses, 
the meekest of men, failed in respect of it, and was ex- 
cluded from Canaan. Yet was he pre-eminent for it 
above all men that dwelt on the earth. Numb. xii. 3. 
But so fully, so perfectly, did this virtue exist in Jesus, 
that when the apostle would exhort the Corinthians to 
peace and amity with each other, he beseeches them by 
the meekness and gentleness of Christ, 2 Cor. x. 1. 
Meekness is a lovely and useful virtue. It adorns hu- 
manity, and renders life pleasant. It is most acceptable 
to God : '' the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit is in 
his sight of great price," 1 Pet. iii. 4. 

Our Lord, therefore, pronounces his benediction on all 
such, " Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the 
earth," Matt. v. 5. They seem now to be outcasts, and 
others lord it in possession. But the time is at hand 
when Jehovah " will reprove with equity, for the meek 
of the earth," Isa. xi. 4, and give them the kingdom in 
possession. 

The meek are the beloved pupils of the great Teacher. 
" The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek 
will he teach his way," Psa. xxv. 9. This is part of the 
peculiar office to which the Spirit of the Lord anointed 
him. " The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because 
the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto 
the meek," Isa. Ixi. L Let us therefore comply with the 
exhortation of the prophet Zephaniah, that we may ex- 
hibit his character before God and men, and enjoy the 
blessedness connected with it. '' Seek ye the Lord, all 
ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judg- 
ment ; seek righteousness, seek meekness : it may be, 
ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger," Zeph. 
ii. 3. 

Secondly, their privilege is set before us, " The meek 



SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 247 

shall eat." This implies, first, that a supply has been 
provided for them ; secondly, that they are welcome : 
and thirdly, that they are wiUing to partake. 

First, a supply is provided for them. The Scriptures 
fully declare this. In various places it is described un- 
der the figure of an earthly feast. Our Lord himself 
uses this parable, " The kingdom of heaven is Uke unto 
a certain king, which made a marriage for his son ; and 
sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to 
the wedding : and they would not come. Again, he 
sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are 
bidden. Behold, I have prepared my dinner : my oxen 
and my fallings are killed, and all things are ready ; 
come unto the marriage," Matt. xxii. 2 — 4. The pro- 
phets looked forward to it : " In this mountain shall the 
Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, 
a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, 
of wines on the lees well refined," Isa. xxv. 6. There- 
fore, also, they cried aloud with an universal invitation, 
'• Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, 
and he that hath no money ; come ye, buy and eat ; 
yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and with- 
out price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which 
is not bread ? and your labour for that which satisfieth 
not ? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which 
is good, and let your soul deUght itself in fatness," Isa. 
Iv. 1, 2. 

Such is the scriptural representation of the gospel of 
Christ. God first declares, by these figurative terms, the 
necessity and appropriateness, the sufficiency and free- 
ness, of provided spiritual blessings in Christ ; and then 
invites, and commands, man to come and take whatever 
he requires. How diffierent is true Christianity in this 
respect, from all the false religions of the heathen world ! 
How contrary to that perversion of scriptural religion, 



248 SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 

which is made by every natural heart ! Mai imagines 
that he has a great work to perform, before he can draw 
near to God, and obtain all that is needed for his soul in 
time and in eternity. He cannot conceive, and will 
not be persuaded, that God has already made a full 
supply for him, and that all that he has to do is to 
receive and eat. It appears to him, that the first ad- 
vance must be made on his own side. He knows and 
feels that he is the inferior, nay the offender. He re- 
gards God in the same manner in which he would an 
earthly sovereign, and concludes that it is both right and 
just, that he should confess his faults, beg for pardon, 
and sue for a reconciliation. It is indeed just and right 
that he should do so. But what if the Great King 
wait not on our tardy return ? What if he anticipate 
us with an ovorflowing kindness ? — and come, and 
stand, and call, " Incline your ear, and come unto me : 
hear, and your soul shall live. — Let the wicked forsake 
his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let 
him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. 
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are 
your ways my ways, saith the Lord," Isa. Iv. What 
shall we say in this case ? How shall we act? Surely 
if it were right that we should turn to the Lord be- 
fore, it is much more incumbent now, when he so lov- 
ingly invites us ! 

This is exactly what God has done in the gospel. 
He prepares the feast ; he sends the good news of a full 
and free salvation, and adds, "All things are ready, 
come unto the marriage," Matt. xxii. 4. He shows us 
that we are welcome to partake of its blessings — pardon, 
peace, righteousness, strength, wisdom, sanctification, 
and everlasting redemption. But man replies, " Though 
the feast be ready, I am not yet ready to receive it." He 



SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 249 

is too proud to go as he is — too disobedient to go at once 
— too suspicious to go witliout asking questions — too 
doubtful as to thet erms and sincerity of the invitation, 
to be convinced that it is really intended for himself. 
Thus many who have some desire to partake of these 
blessings, are as effectually deprived of them, by these 
wilful hinderances, as the others are by their farms, and 
purchases, and quiet domestic comforts. Where God 
places no difficulty, they do. They say to themselves, 
^' Since the Saviour has done so much, we must do some- 
thing." They therefore enter upon a religious course of 
life. They put aside bad habits, leave off certain sins, 
and practice the opposite virtues. They attend the means 
of grace, read the Scriptures, observe regularly all their 
acts of devotion, private and public. It may be, also, 
that they use self-denial, weep over their faihngs, fast, 
give alms, and practise austerities. But all this, notwith- 
standing, is spoiled by their inward motive. To obtain 
reconciliation with God, and to recommend themselves 
to his mercy, is their great, their avowed object. They 
think that they must entreat God to be reconciled to 
them, and will not believe that He is beseeching them to 
be reconciled to Him, 2 Cor. v. 21. In their view it 
seems absolutely indispensable, that they should first lead 
a rehgious hfe, for at least some period of time ; continue 
in the daily and hourly practice of Christian virtues ; 
and so recommend themselves to God's approval ; and 
they will not be persuaded that God commendeth his 
love toward them, in that while they were yet sinners, 
Christ died for them, Rom. v. 8. They imagine that 
the bestowment of blessings in this free manner, before 
the religious services are rendered, is the very way to 
prevent their performance. Now, let it be remarked, 
that the argument, here, lies not against the services, but 
against the motive from which they spring ; and, we 



250 SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 

may add, that such an objection proceeds on a total mis- 
conception of the object which God has in view. It is 
not the mere performance of service, that God looks at. 
Were this what he desires, then the principle of natural 
men would be correct, their practice wise, and their suc- 
cess indubitable. But God's heart seeks first, not a re- 
hgion of service, but a religion of love. He wishes to 
see, before and around him, not a variety of servants who 
work for reward, but an assemblage of children, who 
are actuated by gratitude for what he has already be- 
stowed. We may appeal to their own feelings. Ima- 
gine two congregations. The one meets to pray and 
praise, in order to commend themselves to God, as reli- 
gious and devout worshippers. The preacher exhorts 
them to avoid sin, to love righteousness, to practise char- 
ity, that they may be able to look back on a well-spent 
life, and so obtain commendation at the last, from their 
merciful God and Saviour. He concludes ; the people 
return to their houses, satisfied that they have discharged 
an incumbent duty. The other congregation meets to 
pray and praise, in order to testify their gratitude to God 
for sending his Son to die as their surety, and to obtain 
a greater likeness to his holy image. The preacher ex- 
horts them to avoid sin, to love righteousness, to practise 
charity, out of love and gratitude to that Saviour, who 
bought them with his blood. He tells them that the 
only well-spent life which God acknowledges, is that of 
Jesus of Nazareth ; that, therefore, they must look back 
only upon that ; and enjoins them to place all their 
hope of mercy at the last, only on the merit of his 
righteousness. He concludes ; the people return to their 
houses, saying, " Our best services are unworthy of His 
acceptance, who so loved us. Let us be more diligent to 
serve Him, and never cease to praise His name, who 
bought us with his blood." 



SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 251 

Now, we ask, as the services are similar, which motive 
is noble, generous, and praiseworthy ? Who would pre- 
fer that their children should be actuated by the former, 
instead of the latter? Which of these two motives, 
brings most honour to God ? Which of them humbles 
man? Which of them ensures the most loving obe- 
dience? Beyond all doubt, the latter. This, then, is 
the object which God has in view. To implant this 
motive of love in our hearts, Christ died. To inform us 
of his death, the Gospel is sent. The feast is furnished ; 
and proofs of God's love towards us are exhibited, that we 
may be incited to enter cordially into all the services of 
religion, and may perform all our acts of charity, out of 
love and gratitude to him. But though men beheve, as 
an article of their creed, that " Jesus Christ suffered under 
Pontius Pilate," yet their knowledge of his death has little 
or no influence on their affections. Why ? Because they 
believe not in the motive that prompted it. They do not 
think that God really feels a cordial love towards them. 
They imagine that as we love, only what is good or at- 
tractive in its own nature, and cannot entertain any 
affection towards a repulsive object, so God cannot love 
them, till they shall have done something to please and 
serve him, and to prove that they are not undeserving of 
his favour. Thus they begin from themselves. The 
reconciliation, they imagine, must commence on their 
part. The love is to flow upwards, from their hearts, 
towards the heart of God, and so gain his love. Though 
the Scrij)tures plainly declare, " Herein is love, not that 
we loved Go<i, but that God loved us," 1 John iv. 10 ; 
and again, " We love him, because he first loved us," 
ver. 19 ; yet will they not be persuaded that their prin- 
ciple is unsound. Why ? Because it is too agreeable, 
and flattering, to be speedily relinquished. God's prin- 
ciple is one, that maintains his own glory, and lowers 



252 SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 

man. It puts God first, man last. It makes God the 
generous giver, and man only the receiver, the beggar. 
But man's principle is quite the reverse. It exalts man, 
and dishonours God. It sets man first, God second. It 
allows man to approach God, not as a mere beggar, but 
with something in his hand to give ; and it represents 
God as withholding his love, and his blessing, till man 
can produce the price. No wonder, then, that man nat- 
urally contends earnestly for a principle, which is so con- 
genial to his own self-complacency ! It is difficult to 
convince him contrary to his own dignity, and in oppo- 
sition to the principles of his fallen nature ! Difficult ! 
It is impossible ! Why ? Because man is not naturally 
what this verse describes : he is not meek ; his pride 
makes him spurn the Gospel. Therefore the apostle 
calls on us all to " receive with meekness the engrafted 
word, which is able to save our souls," James i. 21. Of 
ourselves, we cannot do this. The Spirit of God alone 
can produce this good fruit in our hearts. We must, 
therefore, pray to Him to efifect this in us. We must 
pray to Him to cast down all imaginations, and every 
high thing in us, that exalts itself against the knowl- 
edge of God, and to bring into captivity every thought 
to the obedience of Christ, 2 Cor. x. 5. When the Holy 
Spirit has thus rendered the heart meek, to receive the 
words of the gospel, we find that it contains indeed a 
rich and full supply of spiritual nourishment. The pro- 
phet experienced it to be so. " Thy w^ords were found, 
and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy 
and the rejoicing of my heart," Jer. xv. 16. Our Lord 
says, " The meek shall eat ;" the prophet says, " I did 
eat." As in eating, we make personal ^ise of the food 
that is set before us, so it is signified here, that we 
must make a personal application of the gospel. When 
it invites, we are to accept ; when it commands, we are 



SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 253 

to obey ; when it threatens, we are to fear ; when it 
promises, we are to believe ; when it encourages, we are 
to take comfort ; and when it examines, we are to say, 
" Search me, O Lord, and try my heart, and see if there 
be any wicked way in me," Psa. cxxxix. 3. This is 
the personal application of gospel truths, which is in- 
tended by this metaphor. It is not a carnal eating, like 
that of the Israelites, Deut. xvi. 11, 14, but spiritual, 
on the true sacrifice of the Lamb of God. As our Lord 
when alluding to leaven, meant not that of bread, but of 
^' doctrine," Matt. xvi. 12 ; so when he says, " I am the 
bread of life," John vi. 48, he means, that he is the 
doctrine of life ; his doctrine is the bread of the soul. 
When also he says, " My flesh is meat indeed, and my 
blood is drink indeed," he means, "The doctrine of 
my taking your nature, is a substantial proof of my love 
to you, on which your soul may meditate, to gain 
strength for eternity, as your body feeds on meat, to gain 
strength for time. And the doctrine of my blood-shed- 
ding to remove your guilt, is an ever-living truth, to 
which your conscience may have recourse in its thirst 
for forgiveness, as your parched flesh drinks of a flowing 
fountain for refreshment." This is the doctrine w^hich 
the Spirit of God must enable us to receive with meek- 
ness, that it may save our souls. 

" The meek shall eat :" they do eat. They apply it 
to their own hearts and consciences every day. This is 
the meat which the world knows not of. Their meat 
is to do the will of God. His will is, first, that they 
should believe the doctrine of his love ; secondly, that 
they should love him in return ; and thirdly, that from 
love to him, they should love all men, and go about con- 
tinually doing good. His will, therefore, they daily study 
to fulfil. It is their delight. It is their strength, their 
nourishment, their life. The more they are enabled to 

22 



251 SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 

fulfil it, the more easy does its performance become, and 
the higher do their own peace and happiness rise. The 
more they partake of this heavenly food, the more desi- 
rous are they that others should enjoy it, and therefore 
they thus invite all, '^ O taste and see that the Lord is 
good ; blessed is the man that trusteth in him," Psa. 
xxxiv. 8. 

In the third place, this verse describes their condition. 
It is that of satisfaction, " The meek shall eat and shall 
be satisfied." The supply that is provided is not only 
ready, it is full, it is abundant. There is enough, and 
to spare, for all. Nor is there only a full supply. It is 
also rich. The quantity exceeds not the quality. The 
smallest portion is a satisfying portion. It disappoints 
not the expectation. It imparts a full and most content- 
ed feeling to the soul. No one need say, " I must seek 
something else." How unlike to the portions of this 
world ! They satisfy not. Their abundance clogs, their 
richness satiates, their variety sickens, their quality dis- 
satisfies. We hasten from one to another, and still seek 
for only another, which may perhaps afford full satisfac- 
tion. This is the universal experience of men, " There 
be many that say, Who will show us any good ?" Psa. 
iv. 6. In contrast to these, the meek are taught to say, 
"Lord, hft thou up the light of thy countenance upon us," 
Psa. iv. 6. This was the satisfying portion which our 
Lord so earnestly sought \vhen on the cross. This was 
what he found. This is what he now enjoys. In God's 
favour is life ; at His right hand there are pleasures for 
evermore. The meek find the fullest satisfaction in thai 
favour now. They shall enjoy it hereafter. It is not 
only a full and rich, but also an increasing satisfaction, 
" The meek shall increase their joy in the Lord," Isa. 
xxix. 19. It is not a satisfaction of an hour, or a day, 
or a year, but of a life. The reUsh for it continues, by 



SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 255 

reason of a constant accession. It decreases not by use. 
It evaporates not in enjoyment. It is the satisfaction, 
which the long benighted traveller feels, who perceives 
the dawn of a light that shall increase to perfect day. 
His satisfaction rises as the sun ascends. Christ is a 
sun of righteousness to the meek. The first dawn of 
his hght imparts satisfaction to their souls, and every in- 
crease of his light gives an addition to their happiness. 
But not only is it full, and rich, and unalloying, and in- 
creasing, it is eternal. The satisfaction of God himself, 
has become the satisfaction of the heart of man. Christ 
is its source. God is eternally well pleased with the per- 
fect righteousness of his Son, and his people experience 
it to be an eternal satisfaction to their souls. They are 
abundantly satisfied with the fatness of God's house, 
Psa. xxxvi. 9 ; Ixiii. 56. Christ the Lord is their por- 
tion. He is unchangeable. Their portion therefore is 
unchanging, and inexhaustible, their satisfaction perpet- 
ual. It shall not cease ; it carmot cease. Their satis- 
faction is that of the heart, eternally resting on the heart 
of Christ. They believe that he loves them ; and though 
he declares that all he has is theirs, yet do they value 
his love, infinitely beyond all that he can bestow upon 
them. The Spirit of Christ has entered into their 
breasts, and has made them partakers of his joy. The 
joy of Christ must be eternal, their joy therefore shall be 
eternal. The satisfaction of Christ is everlasting ; there- 
fore their satisfaction must be everlasting. Christ prayed 
for it on the night on which he was betrayed, " These 
things I speak, that they might have my joy fulfilled in 
themselves. Father, I will that they also whom thou 
hast given me, be ^ath me where I am, that they may 
behold my glory which thou hast given me. I will de- 
clare unto them thy name, that the love wherewith 



256 SATISFACTION OF THE MEEK. 

thou hast loved me tnay be in them, and I in them," 
John xvii. 26. 

The meek are satisfied in poverty. Distress and trou- 
ble do not impair their peace. When trials overtake 
them, they are satisfied that God intends them all for 
good. When temptations assail them, they find a satis- 
faction in meditating on Christ, who v^as tempted in all 
points like as they are, yet without sin. The doctrine 
of his living, and suffering, like themselves, in human 
flesh, for their benefit, is " meat indeed," John vi. 55. 
When, mourning over their many sins, and daily short- 
comings, they are made to thirst after a free and full for- 
giveness, they obtain complete satisfaction by meditating 
on the Lamb of God, whose blood cleanseth from all 
sin. This doctrine of his atoning blood is " drink in- 
deed," " They eat," and drink, " in plenty, and are satis- 
fied, and praise the name of the Lord their God, that 
hath dealt wondrously with them," Joel ii. 26. 

Being thus taught by the Spirit to learn of Christ ; 
being thus made meek ; being thus enabled to receive 
the engrafted word ; being thus personal partakers of it, 
as by a spiritual eating ; the meek are filled with a free, 
full, abundant, rich, uncloying, increasing, and eternal 
satisfaction. It is a satisfaction of conscience, of heart, 
of judgment ; a satisfaction of love, and of enjoyment ; 
a satisfaction in poverty and wealth, in health and sick- 
ness, in life and death, in time and throughout eternity. 



THE 



SEEKERS OF THE LORD 

PRAISING HIM. 



Verse 26. — They shall praise the Lord that seek him. 

The mind of Christ on the cross, appears to dwell 
with dehght on the thought, that his people shall expe- 
rience w^hat he himself enjoys. He had now tasted of 
his Father's goodness, and was satisfied ; and it seems 
to be with gratification that he declares '• the meek shall 
eat and be satisfied.'' He had also earnestly sought the 
favour of God, and had given thanks that he had found 
it ; and now he turns from his own joy, to that of his dis- 
ciples, as if his were not complete without theirs, and 
says, " They shall praise the Lord that seek him." 

It is declared by the Redeemer, '' Seek, and ye shall 
find," Matt. vii. 7. The command is imperative, the 
promise is faithful. The performance, therefore, ought 
to be sincere and persevering. " Ye shall seek me and 
find me, when ye search for me with all your heart,'' 
Jer, xxix. 13. The true seeker of God shall become a 
finder of real joy. He may not now be able to rejoice, 
but in due time he shall praise the Lord. As it was 
w4th Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, the seeker 
may be in anguish of spirit ; he may have a most bit- 
ter cup to drink ; his will may be strong against it, yet 
will he not faint. Again, and again, and again, will 
he seek the Lord ; and though he may not be able to 
praise him with joyful lips, yet will he praise him with 

22* 



THE SEEKERS OF THE LORD. 258 

a submissive heart, and render the substantial praise of 
obedience. Or again, hke Jesus on the cross, the seeker 
may be so enveloped in darkness, that he rnay be con- 
strained to cry, ^^ Why hast thou forsaken me ?" yet will 
he continue to seek, and search, and seek again, with 
all his heart. He will cry, entreat, beseech, use every 
argument which wisdom, or necessity, can suggest, and 
follow up all, by an unceasing importunity of earnest- 
ness. Remember you are not alone ; you have an all- 
prevailing Intercessor. Christ had no advocate on his 
side, yet he persevered till he prevailed. Having, there- 
fore, such an High Priest, you may draw near with bold- 
ness. He is worthy of the fullest confidence. Like 
Christ, too, the seeker shall find, and shall praise the 
Lord. There is no doubt on this point. The promise 
is as express as the command. "I said not unto the 
seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain," Isa. xlv. 19. The 
wrestler shall become a prevailer ; Jacob shall be named 
Israel ; the beggar shall become a bestower, he gets 
blessings, and he gives praises. Thus shall it be with 
every one that seeks the Lord, not only with all his 
heart, not only perseveringly, but also in the right time. 
The Scripture addresses every man and says, " Seek ye 
the Lord, while he may be found," Isa. Iv. 6. There is 
a period approaching when it shall be too late. God 
has limited a certain day, saying in David, " To-day, 
if ye wull hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Be- 
hold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day 
of salvation," Heb. iv. 7 ; 2 Cor. vi. 2. Christ wept over 
Jerusalem, because she let slip the period allotted her. 
God declares regarding many, " They shall seek me 
early, but they shall not find me," Prov. i. 28. Let this 
warning rouse the slothful professor. Let it alarm the 
careless sinner. Should he inquire, " But how shall I 
seek the Lord ?" we reply, first, by earnest, secret, prayer. 



THE SEEKERS OF THE LORD. 259 

This is a work which cannot be engaged in by any friend 
in your stead. It is a personal seeking. If your own 
heart be not engaged in it, you can obtain no blessing. 
Let secret, earnest, private, prayer, be daily exercised by 
you ; cause constant ejaculations to ascend, wherever you 
are, and howsoever occupied. Remember, that prayer 
is the first and most needful part of your duty in seekhig 
the Lord. But neglect not other means. Seek God in 
his church, in the assembly of his people. Where his 
word is preached, and spiritual worship ascends, he is 
present to bless ; there fail not to meet your Lord, that 
you may obtain his blessing. Seek him also by diligent 
reading of the holy Scriptures, which are as a lamp to 
guide you to his presence. Seek the Lord by all the 
means of grace, and ordinances of his appointment, but 
rest not in the mere use of means. Ask of the Spirit 
of God to make them helps, otherwise they shall prove 
hinderances. Above all, and along with all, seek the 
Lord by faith. Believe that he is willing to reveal him- 
self to you ; be persuaded that he is not far from you ; 
that he notices your every inquiry. Believe that he is 
more willing to hear than you are to pray, more ready 
to give than you are to ask. Such faith honours God. 
It prevails. Those who place confidence in God shall 
never be confounded ; " they shall praise the Lord that 
seek him." In the flesh you shall praise God. You 
shall find him to be a Father, a Preserver, a Friend, a 
Saviour, a Comforter. With the fleshly body, all seek- 
ing shall be put off. Then the praises of the Lord, 
which commenced in time, shall increase, shall swell 
symphonious, and the arches, of heaven shall resound 
with the miisic of eternal gratitude ! 



THE ETERNAL LIFE. 



Verse 26. — Your heart shall live for ever. 

Having regarded his people under two of what ought 
to be their most prominent characteristics, meekness, and 
seeking of the Lord ; having solaced his mind with the 
consideration of their happiness and their gratitude ; 
their satisfaction with his blessings, and their praises of 
his heavenly Father for them ; our Lord next medi- 
tates on their imperishable condition. And to render 
that thought fruitful of peace, and grace, and strong con- 
solation, to our souls, he graciously expresses it in the 
form of this affirmative assurance, " Your heart shall 
live for ever." He does not say, i/ozi shall live for ever, 
but your heart. He knows that the great majority of 
his disciples must die, and be laid in the grave. Only 
an Enoch, in the antediluvian world, and an Elijah, in 
the time of the prophets, had passed from earth to hea- 
ven, without tasting death. A long period of interven- 
ing time must elapse, before any similar event should 
happen. And as, even then, the living saints, who shall 
be clothed upon with their house from heaven, 2 Cor. v. 
2, 4, shall be, comparatively, but a very small part of 
the whole redeemed family, our Lord i-n speaking of the 
eternal and blessed life, uses a term which comprehends 
them all, and says, " Your heart shall live for ever." 
We understand it to signify their everlasting spiritual 
condition. The heart, the new heart, the sanctified 
soul may be removed from one place to another, as at 
death, from earth to heaven ; but still, its state, its condi- 
tion, its desires, its feelings, its life, are the same. 



THE ETERNAL LIFE. 261 

" Your heart,'' that is, not your outward man, but 
the hidden man of the heart, Ezek. xxxvi. 26 ; the re- 
newed spirit of the mind ; the new man which is cre- 
ated after the image of God, in righteousness, and true 
hoUness, Eph. iv. 23, 24. " The heart," that is, the in- 
ward holy feeUngs and desires ; the spirit of love to God 
and man ; that state of mind which is, as it were, the 
heart of penitence, and prayer, and purity, " shall hve 
for ever." The Hfe which animates it, is the life of the 
Spirit of God. It is, therefore, a life of union with him, 
from whom that Spirit comes. It is the life of member- 
ship with the head, even Christ, from whom the whole 
body having nourishment ministered, shall increase with 
all the increase of God, Col. ii. 19. Therefore Christ 
said, " Because I live, ye shall live also," John xiv. 9. 
And the apostle, enlarging on the same blessed ti*uth, de- 
clares, "Your life is hid with Christ in God ; and when 
Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also 
appear with him in glory," Col. iii. 2, 4. This eternal 
life, then, this living of the heart for ever, is not a 
mere unending existence. It is not a far off thing, 
as too many consider it, which is only to be enjoyed 
in the future state of being. It is a present reality. It 
is a life begun on earth. It is an actual possession, 
not merely a future prospect. " He that believeth 
on me hath everlasting life," John vi. 47. "He 
that believeth on me shall never die," John xi. 26. 
"We know that we have passed," says the apostle, 
" from death unto life," 1 John iii. 14. If these express 
statements of holy Scripture be not sufficient to prove 
that this life has a present, actual, commencement in 
this state of being, as well as an unceasing continu- 
ance in that which is to come ; and if any still inquire, 
What is eternal hfe ? let the Saviour's testimony termi- 
nate every doubt, for he says, " This is life eternal, to 



262 THE ETERNAL LIFE. 

know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou 
hast sent," John xvii. 3. However simple this state- 
ment appears to be, yet many are unable to attach a 
definite idea to the declaration, that eternal life consists 
in the knowledge of God. This arises from not keeping 
in view the scriptural, and therefore only true, meaning 
of death and life. Death is separation. Man is an in- 
tellectual and moral, as well as a material being. Sep- 
aration from wisdom — ignorance, — is intellectual death. 
Separation from holiness — sm, — is moral death. Sep- 
aration from spirit — dissolution, — is material death. 
How came this triple death ? By him that had 
the power of it, Heb. ii. 14. Satan struck his death- 
blow on the proudest part of man. He induced 
him to seek after forbidden knowledge, and so ef- 
fected his separation from the true wisdom. This was 
intellectual death ; that is to say, man's powers of mind 
were now turned into another channel, and no longer 
thought, discerned, and judged, in concert with the 
mind of God. As the Wind eye is dead to this ma- 
terial world, so a blind or perverted intellect is dead to 
the high wisdom of heaven. Man's nature is such that 
he can only love the things he sees; and now that his 
intellectual vision has become blind to spiritual reahties, 
his affections are engrossed with the things of sense. 
Intellect may be called, the head of a spiritual being. 
To dazzle him with a thought too great for his capacity, 
may be the same, in the spiritual world, as a stunning 
blow on the head is in this world of matter. The natu- 
ral effect of a stun is insensibility, which may be analo- 
gous, among spirits, to death. If this analogy be cor- 
rect, it enables us to understand the process of Adam's 
fall. His intellect was dazzled, his heart became insen- 
sible, and being thereby fallen from God, or dead in 
mind and heart, nothing remained but the passing of a 



THE ETERNAL LIFE. 263 

just judgment to effect the separation of soul and 
body. Material and moral death are the double issue 
of intellectual death. As, then, death, through Satan, 
entered by means of stolen knowledge, so now, life, 
through Christ, enters by means of revealed knowledge. 
"This is life eternal, that they might know thee." 
" I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare 
it, (in order) that the love wherewith thou hast loved 
me may be in them, and I in them," John xvii. 26. 
The true declaration of God's character, or name, by 
Christ, brings love into the heart that beheves it; just as 
the false declaration of God's character, by Satan, brought 
aversion and dread into the hearts of our first parents. 
Therefore, the apostle thus blesses the Christians, " Grace 
and peace be multiplied unto you, through the knowledge 
of God, and of Jesus our Lord," 2 Peter i. 2, He re- 
minds them, also, by what means they had escaped the 
pollutions of the world, " Through the knowledge of the 
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," ii. 20. And therefore 
concludes his epistle with these words, " But grow in 
grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
Jesus Christ," iii. 18. Satan came to man as deception 
and falsehood ; Christ comes as righteousness and truth 
As it was by belief of the lie that man fell, so it is b)^ 
belief of the truth that man is saved. The lie received 
is death to the soul ; the truth received is life. Adam 
ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree, and died ; we eat of 
the bread-fruit of the tree of life, and live for ever, John 
vi. 48, 51. " The words that I speak unto you," say? 
our Lord, "they are spirit, and they are hfe," John vi. 
63. They are so when received in the meaning, and to 
the purpose, which our Lord himself intends. All who 
so receive them, find them to be spirit and life. It was 
the command of God, that proved the word of life to crea- 
tion ; but now it is the Son of God, that is the word of 



264 THE ETERNAL LIFE. 

life to the soul. Therefore he declares, " He that heareth 
my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath 
everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, 
but IS PASSED from death unto life," John v. 24. Eter- 
nal life, therefore, is a present reality. We do not wait 
for its possession till a future period. " This is the rec- 
ord, that God HATH GIVEN to us eternal hfe, and this 
life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and 
he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These 
things have I written unto you that believe oa the name 
of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eter- 
nal life," 1 John V. 11—13. 

By this phrase — eternal life, something greater is meant 
than when we say, everlasting life. Eternity includes 
past, present, and future. Everlasting, refers only to 
the two latter. Eternal life, then, is that which never 
had a beginning. It is the life of God. When man 
was created to live, and move, and have his being in God, 
that eternal life which was in God, became an everlast- 
ing life in man ; since, however, it comes from, and is of, 
God, it is rightly called in Scripture eternal life. In 
itself it is eternal ; but in reference to man, in whom it 
has a beginning, it is everlasting. Life's first entrance 
into man was by a word ; so now its new entrance, its 
new birth is by " The Word." " In the beginning was 
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 
was God. All things were made by him ; and without 
him was not any thing made that was made. In him 
was life; and the life was the light of men. And the 
light shineth in darkness ; and the darkness compre- 
hended it not," John i. 1 — 5. This is a most remarkable, 
comprehensive, and important, passage, as beautiful as it 
is instructive. God is the Word — the Word is Life, the 
Life is Light, the Light shineth in darkness, the dark- 
ness comprehended it not. Being God, it is eternal ; be- 



THE ETERNAL LIFE. 265 

mg Wordj it is intellectual ; being Life, it destroys death ; 
and being Light, it dispels darkness ; but being intellec- 
tual and moral Hght, the darkness of ignorance and sin 
comprehends it not. This non-comprehension is wilful. 
God the Word, the Light, the Life, was not far off, but 
was come near. The Word was made flesh, and dwelt 
among us. That flesh with human tones uttered forth 
the word from within ; it said, " The words that I speak 
unto you, they are spirit and they are life," John vi. 33. 
^^ They are part of myself; I take this form ; I use these 
tones, to suit your state ; what your ears now hear, be- 
heve. Receive my words into your hearts ; hear, and 
your soul shall live — it shall live for ever." 

God the Son being thus exhibited as the Word, the 
Word being embodied in the Scriptures, the Scriptures 
being addressed to the intellect and heart of man, and 
the entrance of the words or truths of these Scriptures, 
being the instrumental means of salvation, natural men 
are tempted to conceive that salvation is a mere intellec- 
tual process ; they regard the words and doctrines of 
Scripture as so many problems and propositions, to which 
they must yield their assent. There they rest satisfied. 
But they overlook the fact, that the truth is moral, as 
well as intellectual ; that it is life, as well as light ; that 
it is addressed to the heart, as well as to the understand- 
ing, " With the heart, man believeth unto righteousness," 
Rom. £. 10. What does he believe? '-The word of 
righteousness," Heb. v. 13. "Christ," the Word, "is of 
God made unto us righteousness," 1 Cor. i. 30. Receiving 
Christ, then, into the heart, man receives righteousness ; 
and he receives also whatsoever Christ is besides, wisdom, 
strength, sanctification, and redemption. The soul being 
thus united to Christ as its righteousness, becomes freed 
from guilt and condemnation ; to Christ as wisdom, is de- 
livered from ignorance ; to Christ as strength, is restored 

23 



266 THE ETERNAL LIFE. 

from weakness ; to Christ as sanctification, is saved from 
unholiness ; to Christ as redemption, is rescued from eter 
nal bondage. Being united to Christ the Light, dark- 
ness is dispelled ; to Christ the Life, death is destroyed ; 
to Christ the Word, all the treasures of wisdom and 
knowledge are laid open before it, Col. ii. 3 ; to Christ 
the true God, finds again, in him, that God whom it had 
lost, and that eternal life which it had forfeited, 1 John 
V. 20. This is the restoration, the resuscitation, of the 
soul. It is put in possession of everlasting life, because 
it is put in possession of Christ, who is eternal hfe ; and 
it is concerning this revived, this renewed, soul, this new- 
born spirit of man, that this verse speaks, and declares, 
" Your heart shall live for ever.-' 

In the present condition of the believer, hovvever, this 
life is feeble and confined. His flesh not being a partaker 
of it, always contends against it. The flesh recognizes, 
and understands, its own natural life, but this other life 
is strange and irksome to it. The flesh must therefore 
be destroyed, that the life, the true life, may be free. 
The shell must be thrown oflf, that the living creature 
may appear. The chrysalis must be burst, that the 
new creature may fly to another and happier region. 
The death of the body, therefore, is emphatically the hfe 
of the spirit. The soul goes to God : but it must pre- 
viously have been of God. It must have had the eter- 
nal life abiding in it ; otherwise, at its separation, from 
the body, it must pass into eternal death. If, however, 
the eternal life have entered into it, before it leave the 
flesh, then assuredly, on its removal from the body, it 
enters into the eternal life. 

What we have now considered, is altogether above, 
and beyond, earthly existence. This is true life ; it is 
all happiness ; pure enjoyment ; bliss unutterable, and 
uninterrupted. This is indeed to live, in the noblest, 



THE ETERNAL LIFE. 267 

purest, most exalted sense. This is the height of hu- 
man and angehc fehcity. It is heaven. It is existence, 
possessing whatever is desirable, and freed from all that 
is undesirable. It is the entire satisfaction of every 
want and feeling, and faculty of the soul's nature. 

Reader, wouldst thou possess this blessedness ? then 
"Zaj/ hold on eternal Ufe^'^ 1 Tim. vi. 12, 19. It is 
the free gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, Rom. 
vi. 23. Receive Christ now into your heart. " This is 
the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and 
this life is in his Son," 1 John v. 11. It is in Christ, 
the second Adam, that it may be secured to us for ever. 
When life was lodged in the first Adam, he quickly lost 
it ; and were it placed in any of us his children, we 
should lose it also. While, then, we bless God for this 
free gift, let us render unbounded, everlasting, praises 
and thanksgivings, that it is bestowed in such a manner, 
as to render loss on our part impossible, and the utmost 
efforts of the enemies of our souls nugatory and inef- 
fectual. 



THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 



Verse 27. — All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn 
unto the Lord ; and all the kindreds of the nations shall 
worship before thee. 

Having thus taken a view of the personal character, 
the pecuUar privilege, and the everlasting condition of 
his disciples individually, our Lord directs his thoughts 
onward to the glorious subject of the whole world's con- 
version unto God. Even now, that he is at the right 
hand of the throne on high, he still looks forward to the 
same object which he contemplated from the cross on 
Calvary. If over even one sinner returning from the 
error of his ways, the angels of God rejoice, how much 
more will He who bought him with his blood ? Who 
shall estimate the Saviour's joy, the angels' gladness 
when multitudes of sinners, when all the sinners that 
stand upon the earth, shall remember themselves, and 
turn unto the Lord? What finite mind can conceive 
the glorious subject aright ? It is foretold in prophecies 
— it is celebrated in psalms — it is announced in gospels 
— it is declared in epistles, it is unfolded in revelations, 
that " all the ends of the world shall remember, and 
turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations' 
shall worship before Him !" 

These words unfokl to us part of that joy which was 
set before the Lord, while on the cross, and on account 
of which he patiently endured its agonies, and despised 
its shame. His mind seems to turn to it with peculiar 
delight. He dwells on it with deepest interest. He en- 



THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 269 

larges on the amazing theme ; has his thoughts so oc- 
cupied witli its various details, that he expatiates on 
them in the remaining portion of the psahn ; and is so 
fully satisfied with this prospective view of the fruit of 
the travail of his soul, that no other desire remains, and 
he concludes the psalm, and his mortal life together, say- 
ing, " It is all fulfilled." 

It is declared in this verse, " All the ends of the world 
shall REMEMBER." This is a remarkable expression. 
It implies that man has forgotten God. It represents all 
the successive generations of the world as one. And 
then it exhibits that one generation, as if it had been in 
paradise, suddenly remembering the Lord whom it had 
known there, but had long forgotten. Imagine an indi- 
vidual to have lost a valuable jewel ; that he can neither 
recollect its exact appearance, nor its full value, nor the 
place where it was lost ; that he occupies himself in a 
continual search ; often thinks he has found it, and mis- 
takes other objects that partly resemble it — and that at 
last he gathers all the valuable things he can collect, 
and bestows on them the name, or names, of his 
favourite, deplored, and invaluable jewel. Imagine that 
after a time, he suddenly recollects the time when, and 
the place where, it was lost. The form, colour, size, and 
value of his jewel, come vividly to his remembrance. 
He starts up with dehght, casts aside his collected valu- 
ables, rushes to the spot, and darts his hand upon the 
lost treasure. Apply this picture spiritually, and it will 
represent the conduct of man in reference to God. 
Having lost sight of the Glorious Being who was seen 
in Eden, man looked for him in air, and earth, and sea. 
In his eager, but blind search, he took many things for 
God. He examined every good and valuable thing, that 
met his observation. He converted every useful thing 
into a god. To supply that deficiency which he felt, he 

23^ 



270 THE CONVERSION OP THE WORLD. 

collected to himself gods many, and lords many. As 
years rolled on, he still added to the number ; and that 
the object which he sought might somehow or some- 
where be found, he deified himself, and every thing in 
nature. Every thing, too, not in nature, of which he 
heard, or could conceive, he did deify, lest that one 
thing which he worshipped not, might possibly be God. 
Even all this did not satisfy. Man was not sure that 
he had found his object. His soul still craved after a 
Being, whom it knew not how to describe. Perplexed, 
and standing thoughtful in the wisest city of his idolatry, 
he bethought himself of an expedient, and hastily set 
himself with his children to erect an altar to ^' The Un- 
known God." St. Paul came amongst them after they 
had been so engaged. He expostulated with them : " Ye 
men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too 
superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your de- 
votions, I found an altar with this inscription. To the 
Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly wor- 
ship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world, 
and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven 
and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. 
Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he 
needed anything, seeing he giveth to all, life, and breath, 
and all things. And hath made of one blood all nations 
of men, for to dwell on all the face of the earth ; and hath 
determined the times before appointed, and the bounds 
of their habitation ; that they should seek the Lord, if 
haply they might feel after him, and find him, though 
he be not far from every one of us. For in him we live, 
and move, and have our being ; as certain also of your 
own poets have said. For we are also his oflTspring. 
Forasmuch, then, as we are the offspring of God, 
we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto 
gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art, and man's 



THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 271 

device," Acts xvii. 22 — 29. What an appropriate ad- 
dress ! How exquisitely adapted to their state of mind ! 
Like men groping in the dark, they were ^- feeling after 
the lost Godhead." Yet so bhnd, and self-willed, were 
they, that they mocked this messenger of the true God, 
and despised his doctrine. The gospel is not always 
successfully declared. It has not, even in the nine- 
teenth century, obtained universal supremacy. The 
dark places of the earth are still crowded with human 
beings who are groping after hght, and truth, and God. 
However eagerly they embrace their innumerable gods 
and goddesses, they are still seeking to increase their 
"^number. But it shall not be so, when the period 
spoken of in this verse arrives. Then the Glorious Be- 
ing seen in Eden, shall be recognized " in the face of 
Jesus Christ," 2 Cor. iv. 6. Those busy idolaters, who 
ransack the ends of the world, and crowd their houses, 
and fill their hands, with gods, and lords, and images, 
shall cast their idols to the moles and to the bats, and 
fall upon their knees in earnest supplication, and ador- 
ing reverence. 

Such shall be the case. The fulness of the world 
shall be converted unto the Lord. Not a nation or 
kingdom shall be ignorant of his name. The Lord hath 
sworn, and will not repent. In his own time he will 
show forth his glory, and all the ends of the earth shall 
see the salvation of our God. So plainly was this event 
exhibited before the psalmist in prophetic vision, that he 
speaks of it as if actually beholding its complete accom- 
plishment ; " The Lord hath made known his salva- 
tion. All the ends of the earth have seen the salva- 
tion of our God." Psa. xcviii. 2, 3. 

The converted nations shall not only obtain remem- 
brance of their past loss, but shall also be filled with the 
knowledge of present duty. " They shall turn unto the 



272 THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 

Lorilj and idl the kindreds of the nations shall worship 
before him." When the Lord takes unto him his great 
power, and reigns, though there will be fearful judgments 
and dreadful overturnings, yet we ought not to forget 
that this great power is as much, if not more, of a moral 
than of a physical, nature. His might, which can make 
every knee of man to bow, and even devils tremble, 
shall, at its pi'oper moment, exercise a moral power to 
secure also the homage of the heart. His people shall 
be made willing in the day of his power to worship the 
Lord in the beauties of holiness, Psa. ex. 3. The Scrip- 
tures fully assert this fact. "All nations whom thou 
hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, 
and shall glorify thy name," Psa. Ixxxvi. 9. This is the 
fulfilment of the Father's promise, and of the Son's ex- 
pectation. It is the joy that was set before him on the 
cross. It is the high reward which that bitter death ob- 
tained. Hear how the Father addressed the Son, " It is 
a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise 
up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of 
Israel : I will also give thee for a hght to the Gentiles, 
that thou mayest be my salvation unto the ends of the 
earth. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, 
and his Holy One, to Him whom man despiseth, to Him 
whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, kings 
shall see, and arise, princes also shall worship, because 
of the Lord that is faithful, and the Holy One of Israel, 
and he shall choose thee," Isa. xlix. 6, 7. The same 
truth is stated by the apostle, as a necessary consequence 
of the Saviour's obedience, " Wherefore, God also hath 
highly exalted him, and given him a name which is 
above every name ; that at the name of Jesus every 
knee should bow of things in heaven and things in earth, 
and things vmder the earth ; and that every tongue 
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of 



THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 273 

God the Father," Phil. ii. 9—11. What a glorious 
prospect ! He who was mocked by Pilate, Herod, and 
the Jews, shall be worshipped by all people. The in- 
habitants of the AA^orld, who now love sin, shall all then 
have learned righteousness ; for ^' the earth shall be full 
of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the 
sea," Isa. ix. 11. Who would not desire that it may be 
hastened ? 

" Waft, waft, ye winds, his story, 
And you, ye waters, roll, 
Till, like a sea of glory, 

It spread from pole to pole." 

It is our high privilege to be called to join in the pray- 
ers of our Head. He is now in heaven supplicating on 
behalf of sinners, and his Church on earth ardently en- 
gages in the same intercession : — 

" O God, the Creator and Preserver of all mankind, 
we humbly beseech thee for all sorts and conditions of 
men, that thou wouldest be pleased to make thy ways 
known unto them, thy saving health unto all nations." 

'^ O merciful God, who hast made all men, and hatest 
nothing that thou hast made, nor wouldest the death of 
a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live, 
have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, infidels, and heretics; 
and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, 
and contempt of thy word ; and so fetch them home, 
blessed Lord, to thy flock, that they may be saved among 
the remnant of the true Israehtes, and be made one fold 
under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth 
and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, 
world without end. Amen." 

All the works of the Lord are carried on by»prayer. 
He pours forth his Spirit upon his church, to ask for 
those things which he designs to accomplish. When he 



274 THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 

assures the scattered children of Abraham, that he will 
restore them again to their own land he declares, as a 
preparatory measure, ^- Yet for tliis will 1 be inquired of 
by the house of Israel to do it for them," Ezek. xxxvi. 
3. When the people are to look upon Him whom they 
have pierced and mourn, it is not till the ^' Spirit of grace 
and of supplications" has been poured upon them from 
on high, Zech. xii. 10. Our Lord teaches us to pray, 
'' Thy kingdom come." The souls who compose the 
Church above cry day and night before God, "How 
long, O Lord?" Rev. vi. 10; Luke xviii. 7. The 
Church below thus presents herself at his footstool : — 
" Beseeching thee, that it may please thee, of thy gra- 
cious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of thine 
ELECT, and to hasten thy kingdom ; that we, with all 
those that are departed in the true faith of thy holy 
name, may have our perfect consummation and bhss, 
both in body and soul, in thy eternal and everlasting 
glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." Let us 
not then despond. The increase of prayer at the pres- 
ent day, for this object, is a pledge and proof that it will 
surely, perhaps speedily, be accomplished. Though so 
many millions of human beings still exist in heathen 
darkness, let our faith be strong in the sure word of pro- 
phecy, and though the vision tarry, yet let not our hearts 
he discouraged. The Lord Jesus, the Head, and the 
members of his Church, by the same Spirit, unite in the 
same expectation, and in the same petitions. The psalm- 
ist rejoices in the prospect, and says, " O Thou that hear- 
est prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come," Psa. Ixv. 2. 
And in the name of the whole Church he thus prays 
for the blessing of the Lord, and rejoices at the effect 
which ft- will produce in the whole earth. " God be mer- 
ciful unto us, and bless us ; and cause his face to shine 
upon us. That thy way may be known upon earth, 



THE CONVERSION OF THE WORLD. 275 

thy saving health among all nations. Let the people 
praise thee, O God ; let all the people praise thee. O let 
the nations be glad and sing for joy : for thou shalt judge 
the people righteously, and govern the nations upon earth. 
Let the people praise thee, O God ; let all the people 
praise thee. Then shall the earth yield her increase ; 
and God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall 
bless us ; and all the ends of the earth shall fear him," 
Psa. Ixvii. 



THE ENTHRONEMENT, 



Vrrse 28. — For the kingdom is the LorcPs: and he is the gov- 
ernor among the nations. 

Here is assigned the reason of tliat remarkable 
change, in this idolatrous world, which the previous 
verse had described. So great an event must have an 
adequate cause. That cause is, that the Lord hath 
taken to himself his great power, and hath reigned, Rev. 
xi. 17. 

Christ is not now reigning as king of the earth, but 
interceding as priest, at the right hand of the throne on 
high. There he will continue to officiate on behalf of 
his Church, till it shall please him to ofler up tlie fulness 
of that prayer which God the Father has entitled him 
to present, '' xisk of me, and I will give thee the heathen 
for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth 
for thy possession,*' Psa. ii. 8. From this passage we 
may conclude, that the conversion of the heathen nations 
has been going forward on earth, etccording to the extent 
of petition which Christ presents in heaven. The exten- 
sion of the gospel in our own day, is the immediate re- 
sult of an especial request on the part of our great High- 
priest. He asked for the islands of the south, and God 
the Father bestowed them. He asked for the villages 
of joy in one of the plains of India, and hu!»dreds have 
acknowledged the name of Jesus, to the glory of God 
the Father. The last request which he shall present, 
will be for the uttermost parts in possession. At present 
they are his by right, by promise, and by expectation. 
But no sooner shall he prefer the petition, than they shall 



THE ENTHRONEMENT. 277 

become his by possession. As he said before he was hft- 
ed up upon the cross, so will he pray before he is exalted 
to the throne, '• Father, the hour is come ; glorify thy 
Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee." Daniel be- 
held this in the night visions, '' And, behold, one hke 
the Son of man came wdth the clouds of heaven, and 
came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him 
near before him," Dan. vii. 13. Then, and there, it may 
be, he wall say, ^* Give me the heathen for my inherit- 
ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for my posses- 
sion." ^' And there shall be given him dominion, and 
glory, and a Kingdom, that all people, nations, and lan- 
guages shall serve him ; his dominion is an everlasting 
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom 
that which shall not be destroyed," Dan. vii. 14. 

This is the kingdom w^hich our Lord here contem- 
plates from the cross. It forms part of the vision of joy 
that was set before him. Thus, in the fulness of time, 
the kingly throne shall be set for the Lord Jesus. The 
office of priest shall cease. The period of grace and sal- 
vation shall terjninate. He will sit upon the throne of 
his glory. He shall be crowned King of kings and Lord 
of lords. 

By the phrase " kingdom of God," which occurs so 
frequently in Scripture, we are to understand either his 
kingdom of grace, or his kingdom of glory, and some- 
times both. But w4iat is the kingdom of grace, and 
what the kingdom of glory ? The kingdom of grace, 
is where God reigns in a gracious or merciful manner ; 
the kingdom of glory, is \vhere God reigns in a glorious 
or all-powerful manner. The kingdom of grace is now 
being established over our w^orld. '' God w^as in Christ, 
reconcihng the w^orld unto himself, not imputing their 
trespasses unto them," 2 Cor. v. 19. He is now^ extend- 
ing the sceptre of mercy towards sinners. He rules and 

24 



278 THE ENTHRONEMENT. 

reigns over their hearts by his Spirit. He bears with 
those who reject his authority. He is affording them 
both time and opportunity, to turn from their rebellion, 
and to become his subjects and servants. This is the 
kingdom of God^s grace. But the kingdom of God's 
glory shall be set up in its ov^n time, and then he shall 
take to himself his great power and reign, from the one 
end of this earth to the other. Then the loud voice shall 
be hqard in heaven, saying, " Now is come the kingdom 
of our God, and the power of his Christ," Rev. xii. 10. 
Then the sceptre of mercy shall give place to the throne 
of judgment. Sinners shall no longer be invited to sal- 
vation ; there shall be no more space for repentance ; and 
Christ himself shall say, '^ Those mine enemies, who 
would not that 1 should reign over them, bring hither, 
and slay them before me," Luke xix. 27. But to those 
who were subjects of his kingdom of grace, he shall say, 
•^ Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom" 
(that is, the kingdom of glory) '• prepared for you from 
the foundation of the world," Matt. xxv. 34. 

The kingdom of grace, then, is preparatory to the king- 
dom of glory ; and this term, " kingdom of God," includ- 
ing both these, is to be defined as that sphere where God is 
acknowledged, and reigns as king ; or where God ought 
to be acknowledged, and ought to reign as king. On 
this earth, God ought to reign supreme ; but Scripture 
informs us that he does not reign universally, and is not 
acknowledged as king, save by a small part of its in- 
habitants. Satan is called the prince and the God of 
this Vv^orld. In heaven itself, he first unfurled the black 
banner of rebellion. Driven thence, he planted it on 
our earth, and with a serpent's hiss, summoned man to 
his standard. The king of the lower creation joined the 
enemies of his Maker. He stretched forth his right 
hand to the forbidden tree : and, as it were, registered an 



THE ENTHRONEMENT. 279 

oath in nature, that no allegiance was henceforth due to 
the authority of God. Satan's triumph was now com- 
plete : he had lost a crown in heaven, but he had estab- 
lished a throne on earth. Man, attempting to be his 
own master, became the slave of Satan, and all he pos- 
sessed his prey. Proud of his acquired dominions, he 
exercises a tyranny of darkness over them all. He 
keeps a vigilant watch on every part. When he pre- 
sumed to present himself amongst the sons of God, and 
was interrogated, " Whence comest thou ?" he instantly 
replied, *' From going to and fro in the earth, and from 
walking up and down in it," Job i. 7. And when he 
attempted to prevail over our blessed Saviour in the wil- 
derness, the last temptation to which he had recourse, 
was to show him all the kingdoms of the world, and the 
glory of them, in a moment of time, with this proud and 
kingly speech, ^^ All this power will I give thee, and the 
glory of them ; for that is delivered unto me : and to 
whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt wor- 
ship me, all shall be thine," Luke iv. 6, 7. 

Thus we learn from the Scriptures, that the kingly 
power of God was denied from the beginning ; and that 
Satan's power and kingdom are now extended over the 
whole earth. When, therefore, our Lord commands us 
to "seek j&rst the kingdom of God," Matt. vi. 33, he 
means that it should be our earnest desire, and endeav- 
our, that the kingship of the earth may again be exer- 
cised by Him to whom it belongs, and that the domin- 
ion of Satan may be speedily deprived of all its power 
over ourselves, our neighbours, and the world at large. 

To illustrate this truth, let us suppose that the Queen 
of these realms were banished from her throne by a 
wicked and powerful faction. Suppose that traitors 
were in possession of power, and that no friends of the 
exiled queen durst show themselves. Imagine that the 



280 THE ENTHRONEMENT. 

dethroned sovereign sent an unknown messenger to com- 
fort the hearts of her different friends with secret intelli- 
o-ence of iier return with a mighty army. How should 
that messenger address them? Would he not say to 
one, " Be not faint-hearted, the Gtueen shall soon be re- 
stored ?'' How would he warn another, not to be daz- 
zled with the new order of things, for it should speedily 
be destroyed. Might he not address a young man thus, 
" Be not ambitious of their honours, but seek first the 
kingdom of the Glueen and her restoration, and then 
you shall enjoy them all ?" And would he not comfort 
and encourage every one of them under their losses and 
trials for the dueen's sake, wath the assurance that she 
was nigh at hand with powerful armies, to take posses- 
sion of her kingdom, and to restore joy and gladness 
amongst all her loyal, but now mourning and oppressed, 
subjects ? 

Such is the address of Christ in his first discourse, the 
Sermon on the Mount. He is the unknown messenger. 
He is the sovereign himself in disguise, cheering the 
hearts of his friends with suitable w^ords. "Blessed," 
says he, '• are they that mourn, for they shall be com- 
forted. Blessed are they which are persecuted for right- 
eousness' sake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
Blessed are ye when men revile you, and persecute you, 
and say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my 
sake." Teaching them how to address their prayers 
to God, the second petition which he bids them oflfer 
is, "Thy kingdom come." And, lest they should be 
tempted to seek comfort and quiet under the usur- 
per of his throne, he solemnly exhorts them, " Seek 
first the kingdom of God." Be on the Lord's side ; take 
part with your lawful sovereign ; seek no rest, no hon- 
ours for yourself under the tyranny of the usurper ; but 
seek first the restoration of your royal Master. Let it 



THE ENTHRONEMENT. 281 

be the principal object of your life to further the estab- 
lishment and prosperity of his kingdom. Seek that his 
grace may reign in your hearts, and that no foreign 
power obtain an influence over you. Seek that that 
King who reigns in righteousness, may be the God of 
your families, the Ruler of your country, and the only 
Governor among the nations. Seek that Satan's king- 
dom may be overthrown, and that the kingdom of glory 
may be hastened ; " that blessed time," foretold in pro- 
phecy, when '-all the kingdoms of this world shall become 
the kingdoms of our God, and of his Christ,'' Rev. xi. 15. 

But, alas ! this is a duty awfully neglected, because 
we shut our eyes to the real condition of things. We 
are unwilling to admit the Scripture truth, that '4he 
whole Avorld lieth in wickedness," or the wicked one, I 
John V. 19. 

Let us never forget that ours is a conquered world ; 
that power now is in unlawful hands ; but that fuU pos- 
session is being disputed with the rebels. Therefore is 
it that we read in Scripture of wars and fightings ; — of 
captains, leaders, and armies ; — of soldiers, weapons, and 
suits of armour. Therefore is it that we are, as it were, 
enlisted into the service of the Captain of our salvation, 
by those beautiful, appropriate, and emphatic words, 
which accompany the signing of the cross of Christ 
upon our infant forehead : " In token that hereafter we 
shall not be ashamed to confess the faith of Christ cruci- 
fied ; and manfully to fight under his banner against sin, 
the world, and the devil : and to continue Christ's faith- 
ful soldiers and servants unto our life's end." It is a 
war of principles, of truth and error, of good and evil, of 
light and darkness, in which we are engaged. 

The contest has been, and is, wiiether righteousness 
ajid truth shall keep possession of the earth ; or whether 
iniquity and error shall prevail. The field of battle is 

24* 



282 THE ENTHRONEMENT. 

the heart of man. " The weapons of our warfare," says 
the apostle, ^^ are not carnal, but mighty through God to 
the pulhng down of strong holds ; casting down imagi- 
nations," (or reasonings,) '- and every high thing that 
exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bring- 
ing into captivity every thought to the obedience of 
Christ," 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. What those weapons are by 
which such a noble victory is obtained, the same apostle 
informs us : ^^ Put on the whole armour of God ; that ye 
may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil ; for 
we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against prin- 
cipalities, against powers, against the rulers of the dark- 
nesss of this world, against spiritual wickedness (or 
wicked spirits) in high places. Stand, therefore, having 
your loins girt about w4th truth, and having on the 
breastplate of righteousness ; and your feet shod with 
the preparation of the gospel of peace : above all, taking 
the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench 
all the fiery darts of the wicked ; and take the helmet 
of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the 
word of God : praying always with all prayer and sup- 
plication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all 
perseverance and supplication for all saints," Eph. vi. 

Such is the armour which our God has provided for 
us. It is a spiritual armour, because it is a spiritual war- 
fare. The battle is now waging in the breast of every 
one of us, and is being urged in the world around us. 
Christ endowed his Church with his own Spirit, under 
the name of '' power from on high," Luke xxiv. 49 ; 
saying, as it were, to his widowed spouse, '^ Go in this 
thy might." Under the dispensation of the Spirit, the 
Church ought to have obtained greater power and exten- 
sion. But alas ! she has been unfaithful to her Lord's 
parting command, " Go into all the world, and preach 
the Gospel to every creature," Mark xvi. 15. She has 



THE ENTHRONEMENT. 283 

been unfaithful to the Spirit, in whose power she was to 
fight all the battles of the Lord ; she has beeri unfaith- 
ful to her own solemn engagements in the baptismal 
covenant. The sad result testifies ao^ainst the Church 
of Christ. Eighteen centuries have passed away, and 
the great n|^jority of the earth's inhabitants are still 
in heathen darkness ! Christ has been greatly disap- 
pointed of that fruit which he might well have expected 
to reap from the exertions of his Church. With the 
fullest justice we may suppose him to address her now^ 
as he did the Church of Sardis, or of Laodicea, of old, 
" I have not found thy works perfect before God. These 
things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, 
I know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot. 
I would that thou wert cold or hot. As many as I love, 
I rebuke and chasten : be zealous, therefore, and repent," 
Rev. iii. 14, 15. Of late years, great exertions have 
been made to send the glad tidings of salvation to 
every quarter of the globe ; but when compared to the 
amount of work to be overtaken, these exertions, valua- 
ble and extensive as they are, appear to be but as the 
contributions of a noble river to the mighty ocean. It 
may be that the Lord has been delaying from year to 
year, till his Cliurch should more effectually discharge 
her duty : or rather in his long-suffering towards sinners, 
has been allowing them a protracted space for repent- 
ance. Time, however, is fast rolling on, and sooner or 
later. One on whose head are many crowns, and whose 
name is called the Word of God, shall come forth. The 
armies of heaven shall follow him, for he is King of 
kings, and Lord of lords, Rev. xix. 16. '' In that day 
shall there be one Lord, who shall be King over all the 
earth," Zech. xiv. 9. Then shall it be said, " God is 
gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a 
trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises ; sing praises 



284 THE ENTHRONEMENT. 

unto our King, sing praises. For God is the King of 
all the earth ; sing ye praises with understanding 
God reigneth over the heathen : God sitteth upon the 
throne of his hoUness/' Psa. xlvii. 5 — 8. That " shout" 
is an attendant sign of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, 1 
Thess. iv. 16. That ^Hrurnpet" is the sounding of the 
last, the seventh angel, when the great voices in heaven 
shall be heard saying, " the kingdoms of this world are 
become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, 
and he shall reign for ever and ever," Rev. xi. 15. 
Then shall be fulfilled the promise made to the Virgin 
Mary by the mouth of the announcing angel, '' The 
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father 
David," Luke i. 32. 

This title of '• Governor " in the text, is expressly ap- 
plied to the Lord Jesus, in a passage which subjoins a 
most remarkable testimony to his Divinity. ^-And 
thou, Bethlehem, art not the least among the princes of 
Judah ; for out of thee shall come a Governor that is to 
be ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have been from 
of old, from everlasting." Compare Matt. ii. 6, and 
Micah V. 2. The children of Israel are now dispersed 
throughout the earth. Many days have they abode 
without a king, and without a prince ; but when the 
Governor shall issue his mandate among the nations, 
and when he shall pour upon the children of Israel the 
Spirit of grace and of supplications, then shall they seek 
the Lord their God, and David their king, Zech. xii. 
10 ; Hos. iii. 5. For " behold, the days come, saith the 
Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, 
and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute 
justice and judgment in the earth. In his days Judah 
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely : and this is 
his name whereby he shall be called, the Lord our 
Righteousness," Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. Then shall it be 



THE ENTHRONEMENT. 285 

said among the heathen, " The Lord reigneth," Psa. 
xcvi. 10. The just God, even the Saviour will say, 
" Look unto rncj and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth ; 
for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by 
myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteous- 
ness, and shall not return. That unto me every knee 
shall bow, every tongue shall swear," Isa. xlv. 22, 23. 
And it shall come to pass that all nations shall worship 
the king, the Lord of Hosts ; and holiness to the Lord 
shall be inscribed on every earthly thing, Zech. xiv. 
16, 20. 

When we contemplate this glorious event, what lan- 
guage, what prayer, can express the feelings and de- 
sires of our hearts ? Surely, every Christian will say 
for himself, " Even so, come, Lord Jesus, in thy glory. 
Reign till thine enemies be made thy footstool : and 
remember me, Lord, when thou comest into thy king- 
dom !" 



THE UNIVERSAL WORSHIP. 



Verse 29. — All they that be fat upon earth shall eat and wor- 
ship : all they that go down to the dust shall how before him. 

Having considered the vastness and glory of the pros- 
pect, our Lord next contemplates the reality and minute- 
ness of its accomplishment. He sets before his mind in- 
dividual cases, and particular facts. He appears to look 
upon this picture of the future, as we do on a grand his- 
torical painting of the past. It seems natural to gaze 
with silent admiration on the picture as a whole, then 
to fix the attention on particular groups, and testify our 
sense of the general excellence, by expatiating on the 
truth and beauty of its several parts. 

Our Lord here specifies a fact, which fully proves the 
universality of that holy worship whicli shall pervade 
his kingdom. " They that be fat, shall eat and wor- 
ship." The term in the original denotes the great and 
mighty of this world. It is most frequently used in an 
unfavourable sense, in reference to the wicked. We un- 
derstand the passage, therefore, to signify that even that 
class, who are now the most self-satisfied, purse-proud, 
and haughty, who, possessing all their heart's desire, 
are too commonly, at present, despisers of Christ and 
his gospel, shall then be found amongst the crowd of 
humble worshippers. 

To how many does the Scripture thus speak ? " Thou 
sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have 
need of nothing," Rev. iii. 17. How often did our 
Lord turn away from the great and rich men of his 



THE UNIVERSAL WORSHIP. 287 

generation, who scorned his doctrine, and solace his mind 
with this reflection, " To the poor tlie gospel is 
preached." But when the kingdom shall be given into 
the possession of our Messiah, even that class who now 
despise, shall all then glorify him. "The kings of 
Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents ; and the 
kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all 
kings shall fall down before him ; all nations shall serve 
him. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of 
the gold of Sheba ; prayer also shall be made for him 
continually, and daily shall he be praised," Psa. Ixxii. 
10, 12, 15. It shall be even so. Christ's triumph shall 
be complete. His worship shall be universal ; even the 
"' fat " shall despise their former dainties, and shall 
"eat" with delight what Christ has prepared. They 
shall no longer refuse the bread of life, but will esteem 
it better than the honey or the honeycomb. 

But there is another point to be specially noted in the 
great picture. So minutely and fully shall the word of 
God be fulfilled, so universally shall Christ be honoured, 
that also " all they that go down to the dust shall wor- 
ship before him." We understand not this phrase to 
mean simply all those who die, but to refer to that class 
of whose death little more is generally noted, than that 
they go down to the grave. This is a dehcate and ap- 
propriate phrase, when speaking with reference to those 
human beings who lead an unnoticed, animal existence; 
who pass away as though they had never been, and 
whose souls are not numbered with the redeemed. It is 
sufficiently expressive. It is remarkably descriptive. It 
comprehends all that we feel disposed to say regarding 
them, " They go down to the dust." God's people lie 
down to sleep— the others descend to the dust. Though 
H be true that the bodies of both classes alike moulder in 



288 THE UNIVERSAL WORSHIP. 

the tomb, yet the mind naturally describes them by that 
particular which is most characteristic of each. 

We understand, then, the whole verse to speak of the 
two great classes, the rich and tjie poor ; and to signify 
that the people shall be all righteous in the kingdom of 
Christ, — that from the least even to the greatest, all 
shall know the Lord. That no doubt of the certainty 
and universality of this fact may exist, it is stated in this 
definite and double form, that all the great and fat ones 
of the earth, and all the ignoble poor who now die, and 
are as unnoticed and valueless, in worldly estimation, 
as the dust, shall then bow the knee, the head, the 
heart, in living, dutiful submission to Jesus of Nazareth, 
when he stands forth crowned King of kings, and Lord 
of lords. 

It is not asserted that all of each of these two classes 
who ever lived on earth, shall then be raised out of their 
graves, and become the true servants of the Saviour. 
No, some shall have no part in the first resurrection, 
Rev. XX. 6. They shall lie in their graves, till the 
trumpet of the last judgment summon them to render 
an account of the deeds done in the body. There is no 
repentance in the grave. No purgation of souls in the 
other world. As the tree falleth, so it must lie. As life 
left them, so judgment shall find them. They who are 
unholy, shall then be unholy still. 

There is indeed, however, a solemn period in the his- 
tory of these individuals, in which they shall bow the 
knee before their once despised Lord. In tlie morning 
of the resurrection, when all that are in their graves 
shall hear his voice, and arise to receive his judgment, 
the unbelieving shall fall upon their knees in fear and 
consternation. The rich and the poor, in one undis- 
tinguished company, brought back from the chambers 
of death, shall behold Him who was crucified on the 



THE UNIVERSAL WORSHIP. 289 

cross, crowned, and sitting on the throne of universal 
empire. " Every eye shall see him ;" not a single hu- 
man being that has lived on the earth shall be absent. 
Jew and Gentile, Barbarian, Scythian, bond and free. 
Christian and heathen, all shall be summoned to appear 
before the judgment-seat of Christ. ^^ And they also, 
which pierced him,'* the judges and officers, the soldiers 
and people, Jews and Romans, who were the active in- 
struments of his death, shall behold him. Annas and 
Caiaphas, Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Scribes 
and Pharisees, and all that crowd of citizens and stran- 
gers, who took delight in his condemnation, and were 
spectators of his crucifixion on the mount of Calvary, 
shall behold the Saviour in his glory. Of the certainty 
of this, he himself assured his judges : "Hereafter shall 
ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of 
power, and coming in the clouds of heaven," Matt, 
xxvi. 64. All those professing Christians also, who 
have pierced the Redeemer by their sins, and unrepented 
backslidings, " wounding him in the house of his 
fjiends," Zech. xiii- 6 : and all those to whom the gos- 
pel of the pierced Surety came, but who denied the 
Lord that bought them, 2 Pet. ii. 1, shall be summoned 
thither. '^ And all kindreds of the earth," w ho are then 
alive, and not prepared for his appearing, shall see him 
robed in majesty, and "shall wail because of him. 
Even so. Amen,"' Rev. i. 7. " At the name of Jesus 
every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things 
in earth, and things under the earth ; and every tongue 
shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of 
God the Father," Phil. ii. 10, 11. 

But this passage in the psalm before us speaks of the 
homage of love, and not the prostration of terror. The 
" fat," the rich and great men, shall, at that period, be- 
come one with the meek- ver. 26. They shall eat of the 

25 



290 THE UNIVERSAL WORSHIP. 

banquet of good things, which God has prepared for 
them that love him, and they shall worship the King, 
the Lord of hosts, Zech. xiv. 16. And " all they that 
go down to the dust," shall gratefully bow before him. 
This verse, then, must be understood to allude to those 
only, who shall be living on the earth when the Messiah 
reigns. At present, men are divided into two classes, the 
rich and the poor. Scripture does not assert that all the 
former reject the Saviour, or all the latter receive his gos- 
pel. This is far from being the case. Many of both 
classes are now walking in holy obedience to his will, 
and many in disobedience. Such is the case with indi- 
viduals, but in reference to the classes it is different. 
Those who are satisfied with their worldly portion, have 
always been distinguished, as a body, by their opposition 
to the humiliating doctrines of the cross : ^' For ye see 
your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men af 
ter the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are 
called," 1 Cor. i. 26. While in every age of the church, 
the poor, as a class, have been, and are, distinoruished by 
their attachment and devotedness to the Saviour's cause. 
In the kingdom of the Messiah, however, both classes 
shall be eager to confess his name, and serve his cause. 
The rich and the poor shall meet together in love to one 
common Lord, in fealty to one acknowledged Sovereign. 
'^ The people shall be all righteous," Isa. Ix. 21. '' Many 
nations shall say. Come ye, and let us go up to the moun- 
tain of the Lord ; he will teach us of his ways, and we 
will w^alk in his paths. Nation shall not lift up sword 
against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,'^ 
Isa. ii. 2 — 4. The wild beasts of the forest shall be 
changed from the ferocity of their natures ; " They shall 
not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, for the 
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the 
waters cover the sea," Isa. xi, 9 : H^b. ij. 14. ^^ And 



THE UNIVERSAL WORSHIP. 291 

they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and 
every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord ; for 
they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the 
greatest of them,*' Jer. xxxi. 34; Heb. viii. 11. "All 
nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, 
the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. 
And blessed be his glorious name for ever ; and let the 
whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen," 
Psa. Ixxii. 17—19. 



THE AUTHOR OF THE FAITH. 



Verse 29. — And none can keep alive his oicn soul: or, And no 
man hath quickened his own soul. — Prayer-book version.* 

When our blessed Lord surveyed the picture of future 
glory, which was placed before him in vision upon the 
cross, and, as it were, beheld the earth peopled with its 
righteous inhabitants, he instantly remarks, that notwith- 
standing the hohness of their perfect and blessed con- 
dition, they shall be as much dependent on the Author 
of Ufe, as they were in their fallen state. None of them, 
even in that most favourable position, can quicken his 
soul, or maintain its pious frames, and feelings, one in- 
stant apart from Christ. Clusters of ripe grapes may- 
hang abundantly on these righteous branches, but still 
they are only branches. The true Vine must have all 
the glory ! 

Such seems to be the signification which may, we trust 
not incorrectly, be attached to this passage. It is good 
at all times to be reminded of the grand and important 
truth that Christ is our life, Col. iii. 4 ; John xiv. 6 ; and 

* The brevity of the original, (only three words,) in this place, occa- 
sions ambiguity of meaning, and difference of explanation. Some un- 
derstand them to be simply expletive of the preceding truth, that men 
go down to the dust, and that none of them can prevent the stroke of 
the last enemy. On the various opinions of the learned, it is not suitable 
to our present purpose to enlarge. There seems to be no adequate reason, 
why our own excellent translation, or that of Cranmer's Bible, retained 
in the Book of Common Prayer, should not be adhered to. We humbly 
conceive that this passage contains a statement of vitally important 
truth, ill an important connexion. 



THE AUTHOR OF THE FAITH. 293 

that in him alone are given to us the things that pertain 
unto life and godliness, 2 Pet. i. 3. And it is especially 
suitable and right, when pencilling before our ravished 
eyes this bright picture of the earth changed into a para- 
dise, that there should be written underneath, as a motto 
for our instruction, when contemplating these happy chil- 
dren of the second, the living, Adam, and as an appro- 
priate lesson and w^arning to themselves, as descendants 
of the first, the fallen, Adam, "No man hath quickened, 
or can keep alive, his own soul." 

Christ, by his Spirit, is the alone author of the faith, 
the only preserver of the soul's piety and peace. The 
purest, and highest, act of our earthly communion, is, in 
itself, and as far as our power extends, a transitory emo- 
tion, an evanescent feehng. We lie down at night in a 
calm and heavenly frame, and we awake in the morn- 
ing heavy in spirit, and earthly in our desires. We re- 
tire to rest, mourning that we are not more holy, and we 
rise up blessing and praising God for that precious blood- 
shedding, w^iich cleanseth from all sin. So changeable 
is even the best Christian in himself Our first father 
was so. Even in paradise, " very good," as he was pro- 
nounced to be, by his Creator, he could not keep alive 
his own soul. Like him, we are ever changing, not wil- 
fully, but unavoidably. When the new heavens and 
earth, however, are established, the inhabitants shall no 
longer be annoyed by the intrusions of self, with its sins, 
its weaknesses, and pride. The blessed truth that Christ 
alone is their life, shall not only be their strength and 
safety, but also their highest happiness and glory. The 
grace of Christ which did all for them in time, shall still 
do all for them in eternity. Salvation from first to last 
is all of grace. When the Head-stone shall be brought 
forth, there shall be shoutings of Grace, grace unto it, 
Zech. iv. 7. 

25* 



294 THE AUTHOR OF THE FAITH. 

In the " new creationj" into which all those, w^ho have 
been introduced spiritually by Christ's reigning in the 
soul, shall be admitted actually and bodily by his reign- 
ing in the earth, all the redeemed, shining like stars in 
the firmament of heaven, shall revolve round the Sun 
of Righteousness, and reflect his pure, life-giving, and 
eternal, hght. He is the centre of life, and light, and 
gladness. As the material sun is to our world, so is 
Christ to the redeemed creation. He raised us from the 
ruins of the fall. He quickened us by his Spirit, from 
the death of sin, unto the life of righteousness. He in- 
spired the first desire after salvation. He inchned our 
hearts to pray. He taught us to abhor sin. He opened 
our understandings to understand the Scriptures. He 
blessed to us the various means of grace. He put love 
for the brethren into our hearts. He enabled us to take 
sweet counsel together. He strengthened us to resist the 
temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. He 
delivered us from dangerous trials. He encouraged us 
to persevere. He armed us for the fight. He made us 
more than conquerors. He animated our hopes. He 
dispelled our fears. He cheered our drooping faith. He 
restored our wavering souls. He enabled us to endure 
scorn and opposition. He supported us along the jour- 
ney of life. He solaced and enlivened the bed of death. 
From the cradle to the grave every mercy is his gift, 
every good thought his suggestion, every charitable deed 
his operation. To him be all the glory ! The Holy 
Ghost, who is the mighty worker in all these, is his Spi- 
rit. He acts by his direction, according to his will, and 
with his purchased blessings. The Spirit gives nothing, 
but what belongs to Christ. The Spirit promises no- 
thing, but what Christ has spoken. The Spirit accom- 
phshes nothing, but what is to carry on the w^ork of 
Christ in our souls. 



THE AUTHOR OF THE FAITH. 295 

Jt was God, ia Christ, that came near to man in time, 

and so it is man, in Christ, that is brought near to God 
throughout eternit)^ •'• In him dwelleth all the fulness 
of the Godhead bodily," Col. ii. 9. "It pleased the Fa- 
ther that in him should all fulness dwell," Col. i. 19. In 
him "are hid all the treasures of wisdom and know- 
ledge." — " And }'e are complete in him, who is the head 
of all principality and power," Col. ii. 3, 10. When sin 
shut up the fountains of heaven from man. Christ opened 
them again to him, in himself When the sinner was 
banished from paradise, Christ obtained admission for 
kim by his blood. The outraged law he magnified, and 
made honourable. The justice of God he satisfied, to 
the very uttermost. Man's name he took ; man's debts 
he paid ; man's death he died ; man's dehverance he 
effected. All glory to the Surety ! From him our hopes 
begin ; in him our all is centred : on him our eternity 
of bliss depends ! 

Bew^are, then, O Christian, beware of seh^-confidence. 
Hold fast the head, even Christ, and let nothing beguile 
you from him, CoL ii. 18, 19. The least thought of your 
own progress in virtue may open the fatal door of depart- 
ure. Good-self is as dangerous to the Christian, to lead 
him away from Christ, as formerly bad-self was to keep 
him back from approaching him. Even at the very mo- 
ment of your thanking God for those gracious changes, 
which he has wrought in you, and are concluding that 
now )"ou shall not quickly fall, Satan may be secretly 
gaining an advantage over you. To defeat and coun- 
teract this, God may see it needful to send an afflicting 
providence. Learn this lesson fiom the experience of 
the psalmist. Hear how he declares in his spiritual 
prosperity, that he shall never be moved, and thanks 
God, saying, " Lord, by thy favour thou hast made my 
mountain to stand strong." In this thanksgiving, not a 



296 THE AUTHOR OF THE FAITH. 

word occurs, but what every Christian would desire to 
be enabled to use. But perhaps the great Searcher of 
hearts perceived that the psalmist trusted more in his 
own mountain that stood, than in that favour which 
made it strong. Therefore it became necessary to the 
welfare of David's soul, that this weed of sin should not 
be allowed to grow, and that a blast should nip its ear- 
liest bud. He informs us that this was the case : for he 
immediately adds, " Thou didst hide thy face, and I was 
troubled," Psa. xxx. 6, 7. Tempt not the Lord, then, O 
Christian, to deal thus with your soul. Keep your heart 
free for Christ ; love him supremely ; trust in him pef- 
petually ; draw all your supplies from his fuhiess. In 
life and death, in time and in eternity, lean on Christ, 
and sa)^5 " Not unto me, Lord, not unto me, but unto thy 
name be the glory," Psa. cxv. 1. 

Be humble, watchful, and prayerful. Remember that 
the Saviour said, '• Without me ye can do nothing," 
John XV. 5 ; and be assured that apart from him you 
are nothing. The supply of the Spirit of Jesus, is abso- 
lutely necessary to the most advanced Christian, every 
moment of his existence. In heaven itself, his language 
shall still be, as before, 

" Hangs my helpless soul on thee." 

Blessed helplessness, that makes us lie in the bosom of 
the Saviour ! This is the heaven of heaven ; and, in 
proportion as we are enabled to realize it now by the 
Spirit, it is heaven on earth ! 

" Thou, O Christ, art all I want, 
All my help from thee I bring." 

The angels stand not, by their own inherent excellence. 
They depend on God for their support in holy adoration, 
as well as in activity of existence. And I would not, 



THE AUTHOR OF THE FAITH. 



29? 



may the Christian say. I would not choose to have hfe, 
grace, strength, in myself, but all in Christ my Lord. I 
am content to be nothing, through all eternity, but what 
Jesus makes me. I can afford to lose all things, even 
the idol self^ since God shall be my all in all. I rejoice 
to be humbled while on earth, by the recollection that I 
can do nothing good of myself, and that God alone hath 
wrought all my works in me, Isa. xxvi. 12. I rejoice to 
know that even in the perfect state of glory, no man can 
quicken, or keep alive, his own soul ; for these truths 
will ever constrain me to keep close to my head and 
Saviour, to abide in him as my life, John xv. 4 ; my 
temple. Rev. xxi. 22 ; the everlasting hiding-place of my 
soul, and eternal fountain of my bliss ! 



THE SEED. 



Verse 30. — A seed shall serve him ; it shall he accounted to the 
Lord for a generation. 

The unwillingness of man by nature, and his conse- 
quent inability, to serve the Lord, are truths plainly and 
unequivocally taught in holy Scripture, Rom. iii. 9, 12 ; 
viii. 7, 8 ; John v. 40. Unless, then, the Lord should 
interpose, there could not be found in any human breast, 
a single good thought or desire towards God, Rom. ix. 
29. Satan would consequently enjoy a full triumph ; 
the whole huncan race, without exception, would be his 
active and willing instruments against the God that 
made them. But the Lord Immanuel has declared that 
it shall not be so. Christ, as it were, looked down from 
heaven, and said, " I will enter the rebels' camp, and 
bring back many to their allegiance. The traitor shall 
not possess all for his own. On God's own earth a peo- 
ple shall serve him, and disown the usurper." Thus 
spake God's champion. He laid aside his glory, assumed 
the human form, and came into the very midst of his 
enemies. They surrounded him on every side ; he was 
seized, condemned, and executed. In his dying mo- 
ments, they exulted over him as vanquished ; but even 
then he triumphed in spirit over his foes, asserted that 
his object of turning many to God could not be baffled, 
and cheered his departing soul with this assurance : " A 
seed shall serve him." 

This figurative expression signifies Christ and his 
people, who yield true obedience to God. They are 
called by this name in a spiritual and figurative, but most 



THE SEED. 299 

appropriate sense. The idea is taken from the operations 
of the husbandman, who carefully reserves every year a 
portion of his grain for seed. Though it be small, com- 
pared with all the produce of his harvest, yet he prizes it 
very highly, and estimates it by the value of the whole 
crop it may yield in the succeeding autumn. Nor does 
he look only to the quantity, he pays particular regard to 
the quality of his seed. He reserves only the best : nay, 
he will put away his own, if spoiled, that he may pro- 
cure better. The very smallest quantity of really good 
seed, is to him an object of great desire ; and if, by griev- 
ous failure of crops, he should be able to procure only a 
single grain, yet would he accept it thankfully, preserve 
it carefully, and plant it in the most favourable soil. 
Such is the source from which this metaphor is taken. 
The good seed of human nature, which God planted, 
became corrupted in the earth ; it failed to yield the re- 
turn of righteousness. God looked over the successive 
generations of men, but found not even a single individ- 
ual among them all, whom He could reserve as the new 
root, or seed, of another and a righteous succession. At 
last one man was found, — one only man, perfect, and 
without spot ; one single grain of human nature was 
obtained, and God took that, nourished it carefully, and 
planted it in a fruitful soil. That one grain was Jesus 
Christ. He was exactly such as the Holy God had long 
been looking for. He was wholly a good seed. He 
spake of himself, and said, " Except a corn of wheat fall 
into the ground and die, it abideth alone : but if it die, it 
bringeth forth much fruit," John xii. 24. Accordingly, 
as the one grain of pure wheat, He was laid in the earth ; 
in due time he sprang forth, and became the fruitful 
source of a new and imperishable seed. He is therefore 
emphatically denominated " the seed." As such, he 
was promised to our disconsolate parents in the garden 



300 THE SEED. 

of Eden, Gen. iii. 15. Under the same name, also, he 
was promised to Abraham, the Father of the faithful. 
Gal. iii. 16. And in the fulness of time this promise was 
fulfilled. Woman, who was first in the transgression, 
was the first to obtain the promise, Luke i. 28. God 
sent forth his Son, made of a woman. Gal. iv. 4 ; Isa. vii- 
14. And this seed of the woman became the stock and 
source of a new and holy race. These, after him, 
are called the seed. They receive their life from him, 
their new nature, and their new name. Yet in every 
age hitherto, they have been only as a seed, as a hand- 
ful in the earth. But they are the seed whom the Lord 
hath blessed. As the various generations come and de- 
part, the Great Husbandman, through the seed of the 
woman, reserves a seed to himself from amongst them. 
They are spoken of in this verse : '^ a seed shall serve 
him." 

The latter clause informs us '^that it shall be accounted 
to the Lord for a generation." It seems, from this ex- 
pression, considered as referring to the Almighty Father, 
as if God were waiting to find an entire generation on 
the earth, living wholly to his service. Every earthly 
father desires, when surrounded by his family, to behold 
them all loving, all obeying him. God seeks this from 
his human family. What a happy scene would it pre- 
sent ! What a subject for prayer does it furnish ! Had 
all the people of Enoch's generation walked with God, ag 
he did, they might all have been translated with him to 
the regions of joy ! Blessed termination to this sin-sor- 
rowing world ! 

But there is another, and a more appropriate sense in 
which we should understand these words, namely, in 
reference to God the Son. The term " generation" may 
be regarded as synonymous with '* posterity," and the 
whole verse taken as an instructive reply to the query of 



THE SEED. 301 

the proplietj when, having stated that Christ was cut off 
out of the land of the hving, he inquires; " Who shall de- 
clare his generation ?" Isa. liii. 8 ; that is, his posterity. 
Answer, " A seed shall serve him, it shall be accounted 
to the Lord for a posterity." 

To die childless, havhig no descendant to carry down 
their name to future periods, was considered as a great 
curse by the ancient Hebrews. A father was considered 
by them to live in his children, and to prolong his days 
in those of his descendants. But if he left none behind 
him, his existence appeared to them to be blotted out, 
and to become as if it had never been. The Jews, 
therefore, have always been remarkable for their gene- 
alogies and their posterities ; the fathers looking forward 
to their descendants, and the children looking back to 
their progenitors. Our Lord himself is an instance of 
the latter. Two Evangelists have been careful to re- 
cord the pedigree of the Saviour. Those two chapters, 
the first of Matthew, and the third of Luke, are more 
important than is generally allowed. They prove, re- 
spectively, that Joseph and Mary were the lineal de- 
scendants of King David ; and that therefore in the 
adopted son of the one, and true son of the other,, the 
two royal lines, from Solomon and Nathan, centred and 
terminated. He who was born of Mary had a right by 
birth, according to the flesh, to sit upon the throne of Is- 
rael. Had the crown not departed from Judah, it must 
have rested by descent on the head of Jesus of Naza- 
reth. He died, however, and left no posterity. The 
lineal descent therefore became extinct in him. But He 
lives again, and will return to reign. No one, conse- 
quently, has any legal claim to sit upon the throne of 
David but himself. " Thus saith the Lord God, Remove 
the diadem, and take off the crown, until He comje; 
WHOSE RIGHT IT IS : and I will give it him," Ezek. 

26 



302 THE HEED. 

xxi. 26. Shall Christj then, possess no name in the 
earth ? Shall he who died for us, be as though he had 
never been ? By no means. His very death shall be 
the source from whence a numerous seed shall spring. 
"If it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." "He shaJl 
see his seed : he shall prolong his days," Isa. liii. 10. 
" A seed shall serve him, it shall be accounted to him for 
a posterity." The children of the flesh are not counted 
for the seed, but the children of the promise, Rom. ix. 
8 ; Gal. iii. 26 — 29. As a man he has no descendants 
to represent him in the earth ; but as the second Adam, 
he has, among all nations and languages, a seed given 
him by God the Father, who shall transmit his name to 
the end of time. The seed of Christ are a spiritual pos- 
terity. They derive their birth from the travail of 
Christ's soul. The Father comforted him by the assu- 
rance that he should see the fruit thereof, and be satis- 
fied, Isa. liii. 11. Christ the seed is also the word. And 
it is by the incorruptible seed of the word that we are 
born again, I Pet. i. 2, 3#. Those who believe the 
word, that is, have the seed of eternal truth sown in their 
hearts, are the sons of God, John i. 13. This enables 
us to understand how the Old Testament believers are 
one with Christians because Christ, in the form of the 
Word, was preached unto them, and thus proved a seed 
of life to their souls, as well as unto ours, Heb. iv. 2 ; 
Gal. iii. 8 ; John viii. 56 ; Luke viii. 11. By believing 
the word, we become the children of God, under the 
form of adoption. Christ is the true Son, we are adopted 
sons through him. He who was born of the Virgin 
Mary, thereby became the adopted son of his earthly Fa- 
ther : and we who are born of the travail of Christ's soul, 
that is, born of his Spirit, thereby become the adopted 
children of our heavenly Father. As Christ's claim to 
Joseph's special care, kindness, and protection, lay 



THE SEED. 303 

through Mary ; so our title to the special love, and bless* 
ing, and protection, of our heavenly Father, lies through 
Christ. We first belong to him ; and then in and 
through him we belong to God. Therefore he says, 
" Tell my brethren, I ascend to my Father and your 
Father, and to my God and your God." He does not 
say, to your Father and my Father, and to your God 
and my God, but ^' to my Father and your Father, and 
to my God and your God," John xx. 17. Therefore he 
elsewhere calls them his children. " Behold, I and the 
children w4iich God hath given me," Heb. ii. 13 ; Isa. 
viii. 18. With full confidence, therefore, that they 
should all be given to him, the Saviour resis^ned himself 
to death upon the cross. He left no name behind him 
in a posterity, but he knew that his name and his seed 
should endure for ever. Psa. Ixxii. 17; Ixxxix. 36. 
He beheld around him an infuriated multitude, whose 
hearts were set on his destruction, and who hated both 
him and his Father ; but he consoled his dying spirit 
with this comforting consideration, " a seed shall serve 
him ;" my children shall yield due homage to my Fa- 
ther ; they shall take delight in the performance of his 
commandments ; " for, from the rising of the sun, even 
unto the going down of the same, my name shall be 
great among the Gentiles ; and in every place incense 
shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: 
for my name shall be great among the heathen," Mai. 
i. 11. 

^•Service," willing, active, unremitting "service" is 
the characteristic of Christ's seed. Mere professors are 
contented to express their gratitude and love by words, 
the true seed seek to prove it by their lives. To pro- 
mote God's glory, to extend the knowledge of the gospel, 
and to testify their love to the souls, by doing good to 
the bodies, of their fellow-men, are the great objects for 



304 THE SEED. 

which they Uve. Their meat and drink is to do the 
will of God. The conclusion of our General Thanks- 
giving expresses the full desire of their hearts, " Give 
us, we beseech Thee, such a due sense of all thy mer- 
cies, that our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and 
that we may show forth thy praise not only with our 
lips, but in our lives, by giving up ourselves to thy ser- 
vice, and by walking before thee in holiness and 
righteousness all our days : through Jesus Christ our 
Lord." 

Reader, is this prayer the true utterance of your in- 
most soul ? Do you not only offer, do you endeavour 
to perform it ? Are you accustomed to serious self-ex- 
amination on the momentous question of your daily ser 
vice ? Every wish is a prayer, every action is an obla- 
tion, at some shrine or other ; every day of your life 
pays its tribute of homage to self, and the world, to 
Satan, or to God. Watch, then, over yourself. Be as 
a faithful soldier in an enemy's country ; examine all 
that pass. Demand of every outgoing of thought, and 
word and deed. Whence comest thou? whither dost 
thou go ? what is thine object ? Let nothing doubtful 
escape thee. Inquire into every secret motive that ac- 
tuates your heart, and what master is about to obtain 
your services. The seed of Christ do not serve sin ; 
they strive even against themselves, and deny their be- 
setting propensities. Do not, then, speak or gpay in the 
name of God, and yet live and act for self, or Satan, or 
the world. Your words, indeed, tell what you profess ; 
but your deeds tell what you are. Remember, we are 
only so far Christians as we live and act on Christian 
principles. Were we to ask, Art thou one of Christ's 
seed ? it might, perhaps, be difficult to reply. But when 
we ask the same question in this other form, In what 
kind of service art thou engaged ? the answer is at hand, 



THE SEED. 305 

supplied by every hour of every day, and by every look, 
and word, and deed, of that hour. Do you serve God ? 
Have you a desire to do so? Do you put that desire 
into practice ? Do you propose to yourself to hve in 
such a manner as to bring honour to God? Is this 
your consideration in the expenditure of money, of time, 
and of opportunities? What is my object? Do you 
take yourself to task? Do you enter at times into the 
chamber of your conscience, and honestly ask, Am I 
now acting with an express intention to please God, as 
I wnsh my servant to do to please me ? When you rise 
in the morning, do you say to yourself. What can I do 
this day to show my gratitude to God ? What example 
can I set to others ? What benefits can I bestow upon 
them ? Or do such thoughts never enter into your 
mind ? When you lie down at night, do you call your- 
self to account ? Do you inquire. Have I really served 
God this day ? When I did speak, or write, or read, or 
transact business, did I do so for myself, or with a de- 
sire and intention to glorify my Saviour ? Zech. vii. 6. 
If I did any good to the poor, was it done with a right 
motive? What more could I have done? Wherein 
ought I to have been more humble, more holy, more 
diligent, this day ? Are these, reader, some of the ques- 
tions on which you and your own heart converse to- 
gether ? Or are you a stranger to your own conscience ? 
Most earnestly we beseech you to be so no longer. Let 
the love of a crucified Redeemer take full possession of 
your soul. Invite him to enter the temple of your heart, 
even though you know it to be polluted. His scourge 
of small cords will effectually cleanse it, John ii. 15 ; 
be not affrighted, they are cords of love, Hos. xi. 4. 
Rejoice to be purged. Thank him for so blessed a 
work, which you could never accomplish. Then ask 
him to enlarge your heart, as he cleanses it, that you 



306 THE SEED. 

may run in the way of his commandments, Psa. cxix. 32. 
Pray for the Spirit to quicken you, and to make your 
heart " sound " in the statutes of the Lord, ver. 80. 
Thus shall you be enabled to " serve " the Redeemer of 
your soul. Holy service, or earnest desire, and persever- 
ing attempt, thereafter, is the only sure proof that you 
belong to the number of Christ's seed. If, then, O 
reader, thou art not only a professing, but a serving, 
Christian, thou art one of Christ's posterity. To thee he 
looked forward when expiring on the cross ; of thee he 
spake when he declared that a seed should ^' serve the 
Lord;" and in thee he beheld prospectively, he now 
sees actually, and shall hereafter see perfectly, of the 
travail of his soul, and was, and is, and shall be satis 
fied ! 



THE GATHERING. 



Verse 31. — TJiey shall conie. 



These words set before us the certainty of what had 
been declared in the preceding verse, and unfold also 
the gradual gathering, and final meeting df the righte- 
ous seed. ^- TheYj" that is, the seed ; those who be- 
long to Christ, who are accounted or reckoned to him 
for a posterity : those in whose hearts the seed of the 
word has been sown ; who, having been born again by 
the Spirit of God, are reserved by the Great Husband- 
man to be the seed of the new he'avens and the new 
earth : these " shall,'^ in spite of all the efforts of the 
adversary ; notwithstanding the temptations of the 
world, and their own many sins and daily short-com- 
ings ; contrary to their own fears, and notwithstanding 
their manifest unworthiness ; they shall, beyond all 
doubt, without a single loss, and with unfailing cer- 
tainty, " COME ;" that is, born of the flesh, they all arise, 
one after another, each in his proper season, during the 
progress of time ; bojm again of the Spirit, John i. 13 ; 
iii. 7j they shall come, each in his appointed hour of the 
day of grace; and united together in one body, they 
shall ALL come in the consummation of glory. 

They shall come one after another in time. However 
few may be the inhabitants of the earth, there shall be 
one of the seed of Christ among them : one on whom 
the eye of the great God may rest with delight, Zeph. 
iii. 17. However degenerate and corrupt this crow^ded 
world may become, there shall be found more or less of 



308 THE GATHERING. 

the good seed, bearing the fruits of righteousness, herw 
and there amongst them. This is no doubtful matter. 
There was not more certainly a wicked Cain in the first 
family of only two brothers, than there was a righteous 
Abel. When the desponding prophet exclaimed amidst 
the multitudes of the ungodly, " I, even I, only am left ;" 
He, that knew his own, could reply, " Yet have I re- 
served unto myself seven thousand in Israel who have 
not bowed the knee to the image of Baal," Rom. xi. 3, 
4. It is even so. The seed shall come. Christ, from 
whom they spring, came in promise, and in person ; so 
likewise do his seed. They were given to him in prom- 
ise, by God the Father, before the foundation of the 
world, Matt. xxv. 34; Eph. i. 4. Having come in the 
promise, they come also at the appointed time in the 
flesh. 

Abel came, the first of mortal born that lived a right- 
eous life, and died a righteous death. Abel once lived 
hi the flesh, but he lived to God; his sjnrit drew near to 
the Most High by the appointed sacrifice ; he came and 
w^as accepted ; he sung the praises of the God he loved ; 
he served him with a waUing and steadfast obedience ; 
and by faith looked forward to the promised Seed, which, 
doubtlesSj Eve had told him was his parents' confidence, 
Heb. xi. 4. Abel came thus in grace, as well as in time, 
and he shall also come in glory. No sooner did his man- 
gled body fall in death, than his soul was received into 
life. He entered the world of spirits the first of all the 
redeemed. There his spirit would raise a song of thanks- 
giving which angels never heard before. Listening 
with admiration, they would pause for an instant that 
all heaven might learn the strain. Astonished beyond 
measure, they hear, for the first time, it may be, a song 
ill which they cannot join ; it is one which he alone can 
sing, of all the millions that surround the throne. And 



THE GATPIERING. 309 

Abel is singing that song. His soul has long enjoyed 
the abodes of the blessed, but so long also has it looked 
forward to the adoption, to wit, the redemption, of its 
body, Rom. viii. 23. It shall not expect in vain. When 
the Saviour comes in glory, the soul of Abel shall come 
in glory with him, to be reunited to its raised and incor- 
ruptible, its glorious and spiritual body, 1 Cor. xv. Then 
Abel, in the new heavens and the new earth, shall 
again sing the praises of that God whom he had loved 
and served in the earliest period of the departed world. 

The first parents of our race shall also come. With 
penitential tears, we may suppose, did Adam and Eve 
seek admission again to the fair bloom of Eden. Con- 
fessing themselves to be sinners, and their condemnation 
to be just, they sued for its remission in the name of the 
promised Seed. Painfull}^ conscious from whence they 
had fallen, and fatally taught that no created being can 
stand in his own righteousness, •* can quicken or keep 
alive his own soul," they knelt as suppliants for mercy, 
through 4he imputed righteousness of the second Adam ; 
and the sinful parents, while they lived, came, doubtless, 
in the name of their holy child Jesus, into the kingdom 
of God's grace, and at their death entered into the king- 
dom of God's glory, and joined the song of their beloved 
Abel. There they are now ; and when the Saviour's 
glory is to be revealed, when the Almighty Father brings 
him forth, crowned King of kings and Lord of lords, 
their souls shall come as attendant trophies of his triumph, 
gracing the Conqueror's entry on his new possessions. 

The patriarchs who lived before the deluge shall come. 
Amongst them Enoch, who was not, shall again be 
found. He walks now, among the redeemed souls in 
paradise, with a glorified and spiritual body, as before 
he walked among the sons of men with God and with 
a heavenly mind. His body sleeps not in the dust. He 



310 THE GATHERING. 

needs not the power of the resurrection morning. Mor- 
tality in him was swallowed up of Ufe, 2 Cor. v. 4. 

The preacher of righteousness, the father of the sec- 
ond world, shall come. When the wickedness of men 
w^axed great, so that the Lord repented that he had made 
them, (Gen. vi. 6,) Noah came. He came to men for 
God, and reasoned with them of righteousness, tem- 
perance, and judgment to come. He came to God for 
man, and pled for mercy upon those who never asked for 
mercy upon themselves. He is one of the seed whom 
the Lord promised. He was the salt of his time ; " Thee 
only have I seen righteous in this generation," Gen. vii. 
11. The ungodly are to be destroyed, yet the seed must 
be reserved. An ark is ordered for him ; and the long- 
suffering of God waited an hundred and twenty years, 
while the ark was preparing, 1 Pet. iii. 20. Noah came 
into the ark, and the flood came upon the world. The 
seed shall be safe ; they shall be brought without loss 
even through the destruction of worlds, and shall even- 
tually appear in peace in the kingdom of the saints, 
Dan. vii. 18, 22. 

Abraham shall come. Though born in the country 
of the Chaldees, he shall be made willing to seek a bet- 
ter country, that is, an heavenly, Heb. xi. 16. The 
^^ father of the faithful" shall arise in the earth to pre- 
serve the name of the living God from being altogether 
blotted out. '-He will command his children and his 
household after him to walk in the ways of the Lord." 
His faith shall be more severely tried than any man's, 
but he shall be brought out of the furnace, a vessel meet 
for the Master's everlasting use. 

Isaac shall come. That double type of the Messiah 
shall be found, amongst the children of men. His long 
promised birth shall be accomplished at last. And as a 
sacrifice upon his father's altar, he shall prove an ac- 



THE GATHERING. 311 

cepted offering, and become a picture of the resurrection, 
Heb. xi. 19. 

Jacob shall come. Not more surely shall his brother 
Esau, after his own nature, love earthly things, and sell 
his birthright, than the other shall, by the implanted seed 
of the word, bear fruit of better desires, and be called a 
man of prayer ; yea, no longer Jacob, but Israel, a prince 
that prevails with God, Gen. xxxii. 28. 

Joseph, too, shall come, and his brethren also, the fa- 
thers of the tribes of Israel. Out of the pit, and out of 
the prison-house, he shall be brought, the type of Christ, 
the preserver of his brethren, who sold him, and the ruler 
over all the land. 

Moses shall come. Out of the waters he shall be 
drawn, and not more surely shall he be called the son 
of Pharaoh's daughter, than he shall be named the ser- 
vant of the most High God. The dazzling honours of 
Egypt's kingdom shall be presented to his ambition, but 
he will esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than 
all its treasures, Heb. xi. 26. The seed of a new and 
heavenly life shall bear within his heart its holy fruit ; 
being brought out of bondage to sin, he shall lead out 
the people of Israel from the slavery of Egypt ; he will 
conduct them through the Red Sea as upon dry land ; 
and, after the wanderings of many years, shall bring 
them safe to the borders of Canaan. Moses, the picture 
of the law, cannot bring us into the heavenly Canaan. 
The law leads us to Christ, Gal. iii. 24, and there its 
office ceases, as did that of Moses on the borders of the 
land of promise ; therefore, 

Joshua shall come, the type of the true Joshua, or 
Jesus, Heb. iv. 8, to lead the seed into the chosen pos- 
session. There the preserved seed shall dwell in the 
reserved country ; and in their various generations, the 
faithful and spiritual seed shall be found, not imited, 



312 THE GATHERING. 

but intermingled, with their worldly and carnal breth- 



ren 



rime would fail to tell of all who came, and by the 
seed of a living faith, brought forth the fruits of righte- 
ousness, and glorified God amid the trials of a world that 
was not worth)^ of them, Heb. xi. 32 — 38. 

When, too, the fulness of time was come, God sent 
forth his Son. The Seed of the woman appeared, Gal. 
iv. 4. The long promised heir did come. The life of 
the new creation by his double birth brought life and 
immortahty to light. The seed, the one grain of pure 
wheat, fell into the ground, and died. It revived again, 
and brought forth much fruit, John xii. 24. It shall 
bring forth much. As certainly as they came in the 
generations that are passed, so surely shall they come 
in the generations that succeed. Together with his 
flesh, the Saviour laid aside the Jewish church, his rep- 
resentative body. And with his spiritual body, he took 
also to himself a new and spiritual representative, the 
Christian church. 

From the height of Calvary's cross, he could look 
down the vista of futurity, and console his dying spirit 
with the vision of a Christian posterity, and exclaim, 
They shall come, ^' Thy dead men shall live ; together 
with my dead body shall they arise,'' Isa. xxvi. 19. The 
apostles, martyrs, and confessors came. The newly im- 
planted seed was watered with their blood ; and it grew, 
and became a fruitful tree. As time rolled on, its branch- 
es spread ; and every succeeding season of a generation, 
it yielded abundantly. Not one year has it failed. Even 
on its outmost branch, the fruit, whose seed is in itself, 
was found. Eighteen hundred years have passed away, 
but still it has not ceased to bear. In this remote island 
of the sea, its boughs are strong, and its fruit cannot be 
numbered. Widely extended to the four corners of the 



THE GATHERING. 313 

earth are its branches, and none are wholly barren 
among them. We now behold in our world, what 
Christ predicted, what his dying eye beheld, with de- 
light, in the vision of joy that was set before him on the 
cross. Then and there he was able to say, '• They shall 
come.'' From the circumcised Jews, and the uncircum- 
cised Gentiles, they shall he gathered into my church. 
From Ephesus, and Corinth; and Galatia, they shall 
come, with hearts purified from their unholy and debas- 
ing superstitions. The haughty Romans, too, shall bow 
to the doctrine of the cross. The sable sons of Africa 
and the East shall come to the obedience of the faith. 
The wide-extended lands shall acknowledge my name. 
Kings of the earth shall become the nursing fathers of 
my Church, and their queens her nursing mothers, Isa. 
xhx» 23. They shall come from tbe distant south, and 
the north shall not keep them back. The British isles 
shall be converted unto me, and shall become my wilhng 
messengers to the remotest nations. To every one of 
them for a witness shall the gospel be proclaimed, and 
then shall the end of my gospel kingdom come, and the 
commencement of my kingdom of glory. 

Then, too, shall they come in the royal retinue of King 
Messiah. He will bring them all with him. He will 
show that he has gathered them safely, one after an- 
other, and at that glorious moment he shall collect them 
into one perfect, spotless company. '• Our God shall 
come, and shall not keep silence. He shall call to the 
heavens from above, and to the earth, — Gather my saints 
tosrether unto me, those that have made a covenant with 
me by sacrifice,*" Psa. L 3 — 5. Then the graves shall 
give up their pious dead ; then the living saints shall be 
changed ; and both together shall be caught up in the 
clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, 1 Thess. iv. 17. 
Then two in the field shall be separated. Two in one 

27 



314 THE GATHERING. 

bed shall be suddenly parted. Of two at the mill, there 
shall be left but one. And why ? because the time shall 
have arrived for the separation of the righteous from the 
wicked. Intermingled as now they are, there shall be 
then an instantaneous and everlasting separation, as 
these three illustrative cases represent. Then also shall 
be fulfilled the prophecy of the Saviour, " They shall 
come from the east, and from the west, and from the 
north, and from the south, and shall sit down with Abra- 
ham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the 
kingdom of God," Luke xiii. 28, 29 ; xvii. 34. 

All the seed shall come. As certainly as each came 
m his proper season, during the progress of time, and 
the continuance of grace ; so certainly shall they all 
come together in the consummation of glory. Nor these 
alone. From amongst the nominal professors of the 
Christian faith who shall be left, it may be, on the earth, 
a seed, we trust, shall come. Whilst the gathered 
spiritual Church is blessed with Christ on high, the 
nominal Church shall, in all probability, pass through 
fires of tribulation below. Doubtless the great Refiner 
will watch by the furnace, and bring out vessels fitted 
for his holy use. Even at that period, judging from 
analogy, God shall not want a witness for his truth, 
here and there throughout the earth. The Jews also 
shall be grafted into the tree of life. The Lord hath 
spoken it. " Therefore they shall come, and shall flow 
together to the goodness of the Lord, and their soul 
shall be as a watered garden," Jer. xxxi. 12. The 
sweet fruits which it bears will gladden the whole world. 
" For if the casting away of them," because unfaithful 
branches, " be the reconciling of the Gentiles, what 
shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead ?" 
Rom. xi. 11 — 15. " Then shall the earth be filled with 
the knowledge of God, as the waters cover the sea," Isa. 



THE GATHERING. 315 

xi. 9. " All shall know him, from the least even to the 
greatest," Jer. xxxi. 34. Instead of a few here and 
there, as at former periods, that age shall produce the 
ripened harvest of righteousness, the holy seed shall be 
the substance thereof, Isa. vi. 12. Blessed shall be that 
time, and blessed shall be that people, for the meek shall 
inherit the earth, Matt. v. 5. 

When the period of that earthly blessedness is com- 
pleted, when every foe shall be subdued, and the last 
enemy, death itself, destroyed, then shall they all 
COME into the new heavens and the new earth. " And 
there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defi- 
leth," Rev. xxi. 27. But there shall be gathered together 
all who have loved and served the Glorious God from 
the beginning to the end of time. In the glorious city 
shall they dwell. In the everlasting Presence they shall 
rejoice. No temple shall be able to contain the ran- 
somed millions, and the Lord God Almighty, and the 
Lamb, shall be the temple of that new Jerusalem. God 
himself shall be with them, and be their God. They 
shall see his face. The Lamb shall feed them with his 
love, and lead them by the living and everlasting foun- 
tains, Rev. vii. 15 — 17, 21, 22. The once afflicted and 
crucified Jesus shall then see of the travail of his soul, 
and shall be satisfied with an unutterable satisfaction, 
full and perfect in its nature, and eternal in its duration. 
It shall be the satisfaction of his sufferings, of his right- 
eousness, of his providence, of his earnest desires, and of 
his inmost affections. It shall be a satisfaction of a new, 
unin-terrupted, and increasing nature. When Christ 
presents himself, and all his seed, before the throne, and 
says, " Behold me, and the children thou hast given me," 
there shall exist in his bosom the full, lively, and un- 
measured satisfaction of a paternal heart. Therefore is 
he called the everlasting Father, or Father of the ever- 



316 THE GATHERING. 

lasting age, Isa. ix. 6. The head of a large family, he 
shall behold his own holy image in every one of them. 
Dwelling with them in the many prepared mansions of 
his Father's house, he will listen to their praises of that 
Father's name, and hear them ascribe all glory, and 
honour, and blessing, to the Triune Jehovah. " I be- 
held, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could 
number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and 
tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, 
clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands ; and 
cried with a loud voice, saying. Salvation unto our God, 
which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. * 
Rev. vii. 9, 10. 



THE EVERLASTING THEME 



OCCUPATION. 



Verse 31. — And shall declare his righteousness unto a people 
that shall be born. 

The first clause of this versCj we have seen, refers to 
the seedj the spiritual children of the Lord Jesus. It 
asserts the certainty of their existence, and exhibits them 
as arriving on the stage of time, each in his proper sea- 
son — introduced into the kingdom of grace, one after 
another, each at the appointed hour of his spiritual birth 
— and, all together, gathered into the kingdom of glory, 
not one lost or wanting among them. 

This second clause discloses the high and blessed ob- 
ject for w^hich they were brought into existence at first, 
and for which they are all unit-ed into one company for 
ever. It informs us that as the glory of God was the 
principal object of their hfe on earth, so it shall form the 
sole business of their eternal existence. Here at once, 
and in few words, is set before us their occupation, their 
theme, and the objects of their instruction, both in time 
and in eternity. The unity of God's purpose is thus ex- 
hibited ; a true view of our present state and duty pre- 
sented ; and a glimpse of the heavenly life unfolded. 

The occupation of the seed is " to declare" — testify 
from their own experience, from their own knowledge 
and conviction, that grand subject, theme, or lesson 

27* 



318 THE EVERLASTING THEME 

which they have learned. This theme is his " righte- 
ousness." The righteousness of God the Father, in his 
law, and in his providence, they will declare. To main- 
tain the integrity and strictness of the one, and justify 
the chequered nature of the other, they will regard as 
their bounden duty. To silence all fretful murmurs in 
their own breasts, and in the breasts of others, against 
the dispensations of a wise and holy God, they will ever 
apply themselves, Psa. Ixxiii. and xxxvii. They will 
avouch his righteousness in accepting the willing, but 
innocent substitute in the room of the guilty ; in justi- 
fying through him the ungodly who believe, Rom. iii. 
26 ; iv. 5 ; and in condemning all classes of men who 
commit sin. Rev. xxi. 8 ; Psa. xix. 9 ; cxlv. 17. They 
will declare the righteousness of God the Holy Ghost in 
his convictions of sin, reproofs of conscience, forsaking 
of the impenitent, and abiding with the believer. And, 
in a special manner, they will declare the righteousness 
of God the Son, in his human life, and sufferings, and 
death, as man's surety, by which he magnified the law 
and made it honourable, Isa. xlii. 21. and by which they 
are able to call him by this name, '' The Lord our right- 
eousness," Jer. xxiii. 6. And lastly, the objects of their 
instruction, those to whom this declaration of the righte- 
ousness of the Triune Jehovah is made by the seed, are 
thus pointed out, " A people that shall be born." The 
men of their generation, and especially the young, shall 
be the immediate objects to whom the seed will declare 
this righteousness, during their several sojourns on earth ; 
and, when gathered together in one, to the principalities 
and powers in the heavenly places, Eph. iii. 10, will they 
also declare it, as even now they are called to do ; and, 
perhaps, to all the worlds of intelligent beings that shall 
successively be created throughout eternity, it may be 



AND OCCUPATION. 319 

their glorious privilege to furnish an instructive lesson of 
the righteousness of God in Christ. 

Such seems to be the import of this passage. It rep- 
resents the Saviour as looking with minute and intense 
interest into the joy that was set before him. From the 
cross on Calvary he could behold the remotest future, 
and present before his mind a picture of the completion 
of all things. His own Spirit had inspired this psalm, 
perhaps for him to use on this solemn occasion. In these 
concluding verses, it consoles his mind with gracious as- 
surances and glorious prospects. It sets before him his 
own faithful seed, bearing witness to his love and right- 
eousness through changing time and ceaseless eternity. 

We understand the last two verses of this psalm to 
contain this double, rather this unlimited reference. It 
seemed necessary to explain the previous clause and 
verse, with regard to the seed, both individually and col- 
lectively, and we are bound to adhere to the same inter- 
pretation now. It might even be argued that, in strict 
propriety, the words cannot bear a limited signification. 
For being spoken of the seed generally, as something 
accomplished by every one of them, we must necessa- 
rily send forward our thoughts to that period when all the 
seed shall exist and be gathered into one, and when con- 
sequently they shall all be able to declare the righteous- 
ness of our Emmanuel. Thus, this clause, with the en- 
tire passage in which it occurs, obtains full, adequate, 
and most satisfactory explanation, by referring its signi- 
fication to the church militant, and to the church tri- 
umphant. 

We ought ever to bear in remembrance that the true 
Church is a spiritual body, and that the universal Church 
of all ages is one. The great object to be effected by 
her is also one^ namely, " to show forth the praises of him 
who hath called her out of darkness into his marvellous 



320 THE EVERLASTING THEME 

light," ] Pet. ii. 9. Alas ! how inadequately has tnis 
duty been discharged ! What a sad sight must the 
Church present to the high intelligenQes, till she shall be 
freed from her divisions, gathered to her Lord, and made 
perfect in the unity of hohness ! 

The employment of the Church of God, from the be- 
ginning, has been the same as should occupy her now, 
and onward for ever. True believers, in all countries 
and periods, have been dihgent to declare the righteous- 
ness of their God and Saviour. This was considered by 
them all, to be their most incumbent duty, the one great 
object for which life was valuable, and the highest privi- 
lege and honour, to which they could be here advanced. 
They testified for God to all around them, and more 
especially to the young. Over their own children, they 
watched with unwearied care, and early instructed them 
in the way of righteousness. To deliver the ^' people 
that are born" from the error and ignorance, and from 
the sinful customs and practices of the world around 
them, has always been a distinguishing characteristic of 
the Church of God. With maternal solicitude she seeks 
the welfare of the souls of children, and thus tenderly 
instructs each of them, " Remember now thy Creator in 
the days of thy youth," Eccles. xii. 1. The great Fa- 
ther of all has made this a special subject of his injunc- 
tions, " And these words which I command thee this day 
shall be in thine heart. And thou shalt teach them dili- 
gently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when 
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by 
the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou 
risest up," Deut. vi. 6, 7. Is not this the reason which 
God assigns for his communing with Abraham, and re- 
veaUng to him his purpose ? " For I know him, that 
he will command his children and his household after 
him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do 



AND OCCUPATION. 321 

justice and judgment ; that the Lord may bring upon 
Abraham, that which he hath spoken of him," Gen. 
xviii. 19. Was not Noah called a preacher of righte- 
ousness ? He fulfilled this duty to the people of that 
wicked generation ; but none, save his own family, were 
brought with him out of the destruction of the deluge 
into the safety of the ark. 

It was the invariable practice of the spiritual seed, du- 
ring the continuance of the Jewish Church, to declare 
the righteousness of God. Even in the time of their 
greatest corruption, Malachi testifies that " then they 
that feared the Lord spake often one to another," Mai. iii. 
16. Doubtless, also, they spake words of warning to the 
ungodly around them, and watched over the young, 
seeking to impress their hearts ere yet the allurements of 
the world had fatally ensnared them. How fully and 
faithfully does the Christian Church follow in the same 
path ! See how our gracious Head set her the example. 
To all with whom he met or conversed, the Saviour de- 
clared the righteousness of God, as well as testified of the 
world that the words thereof were evil, John vii. 7. How 
often do we find him with children around him, and with 
children following him. Do we not rejoice to hear him 
say, '- SuflTer the little children to come unto me, and 
forbid them not ?" Matt. xix. 14. And when this great 
and good Shepherd was about to leave his earthly flock, 
the first of his threefold injunctions to all ministers, 
through Peter, is this, '• Feed my lambs," John xxi. 15. 
The early Christians were particularly attentive to this 
duty, and greatly did the Lord bless them in it. Timo- 
thy is reminded by St. Paul that from a child he had 
known the Holy Scriptures, and is enjoined not to forget 
of whom he had learned them. Doubtless the apostle 
referred to his mother Eunice and his grandmother Lois, 
in whom dwelt an unfeigned faith, 2 Tim. i. 5 ; iii. 15. 



322 THE EVERLASTING THEME 

The history of the true and spiritual Church of Christ is 
one continued narrative of God-honouring and sin-con- 
demning Christians. The Church is an embodied testi- 
mony. Every member of it ought to be a witness and 
a testifier for God. The two things in which they es- 
pecially differ from the World around them are these — 
they seek to bring men to the Saviour by declaring his 
righteousness as the only ground of their salvation ; and 
they desire to exclude and banish sin by testifying 
against it in every form, 2 Tim. ii. 19. This is the 
duty in which every real Christian is engaged at the 
present day. As ministers or people, as parents or chil- 
dren, as masters or servants, and in whatever station of 
life they be, they make it their aim to declare the righte- 
ousness of the Lord Jesus as the only ground of a sin- 
ner's acceptance, and the only source of his sanctification. 
The Holy Scriptures they make the basis of all learning, 
and exhibit Jesus and his righteousness as the first and 
last object of knowledge. What we are now privileged 
to witness of the increase of vital godliness, and faithful 
declaration of the truth as it is in Jesus, was contempla- 
ted with satisfaction by our dying Lord. He could fix 
his eye on every self-denying effort which the most hum- 
ble Christian is now making on behalf of the cause of 
truth and righteousness. It imparted joy to the last mo- 
ments of our dying Master to know, that though a multi- 
tude was then despising him, multitudes would now, 
and in every age, render him a willing and most cordial 
service. He could not only contemplate the present gen- 
eration, he could look also to all that shall succeed. His 
omniscient eye could survey them all to the end of time^ 
and with full certainty of the fact, and blessed gratifica- 
tion at the event, he could exclaim, " They shall come, 
and shall declare my righteousness unto a people that 
shall be born." 



AND OCCUPATION. 323 

Reader, it is a solemn question, but, for our soul's 
good, we should not fail to inquire, each of ourselves, 
Did my Lord and Master, thus looking forward from the 
cross, behold me amongst the number of those who de- 
clare his righteousness ? Evade not this question by 
saying, that thou art not called to any office in the 
Church. Ministers have, indeed, the solemn responsi- 
biUty oi publicly declaring the righteousness of the Re- 
deemer ; and woe be to us, if we cannot answer this 
question affirmatively, as in the sight of God. But, as 
a professing Christian, the duty is incumbent on thee to 
declare by thy private life and conversation, that the 
righteousness of Jesus the Surety, is that alone by which 
thine own soul and those of thy fellow men can be 
saved. Alas ! how few consider the weighty obligations 
under which they lie ! For all that we know of right 
and truth by the Scriptures, and for the use we make of 
it for our own souls, and the souls of those with whom 
we meet in the intercourse of life, we must give an ac- 
count to God. Do w^e allow our wives and children, 
our friends and neighbours, our servants and dependants, 
to continue in ignorance of the things that belong unto 
their peace 7 Do we suffer them to remain in error on 
the most important of all questions, the salvation of their 
souls ? Alas ! how many a master has retained a ser- 
vant for years, and never told him that an immortal soul 
was lodged within him ! Let it not be so. Let not the 
wife of thy bosom be constrained to declare, that she 
never heard thee say there was a heaven to seek, or a 
hell to shun. Let not the children God has given thee, 
rise up in the judgment, and testify that they were not 
taught to pray, or to know and love that Saviour who 
had finished a work of righteousness. Let not thy 
friends and servants go unwarned from day to day, but 
faithfully declare to them the way of righteousness, and 



324 THE EVERLASTING THEME 

entreat them to walk therein, that they may find peace 
and salvation to their souls. 

Blessed is that resolution of the Psalmist, " I will 
speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy 
wondrous works ; men shall abundantly utter the mem- 
ory of thy great goodness, and shall sing of thy right- 
eousness," Psa. cxlv. 5, 7. ''We will not hide them 
from our children, showing to the generation to come 
the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his won- 
derful works that he hath done." For '' he commanded 
our fathers that they should make them known to their 
children, that the generation to come might know them, 
even the children which should be born, who should 
arise and declare them to their children : that they might 
set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, 
but keep his commandments," Psa. Ixxviii. 4 — 7. This is 
the duty and privilege of the church. iSince Christ as- 
cended, one generation of the seed has been telling another, 
and they those that came after, of the Lord Jesus, his holy 
life, sufferings, and death. One word comprehends all ; 
they declare his ^^ right eousnessP That perfect and 
spotless life of obedience to all the will and law of God, 
which Christ exhibited on earth, and which enabled 
him to offer a pure offering of holy blood, and to give an 
unstained soul in ransom for a world's redemption, is 
their grand theme. This is the w^ork of the church in 
her several members. In her collective capacity, it is 
intended that she should afford an everlasting lesson 
to all the inhabitants of the universe who are, or shall 
be created. " Ye are the hght of the world," Matt. v. 14. 
They shall look upon the Bride, the Lamb's Avife, and 
they shall glorify God in her. She shall be at once the 
Teacher and the Lesson. And it is not improbable that 
there shall be called into existence, throughout eternity, 
various races of intelligent beings, who shall learn by 



AND OCCUPATION. 325 

the glorified church the manifold wisdom of God. How 
fully and perfectly shall the redeemed be able then to 
declare the righteuosness of the Father, of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost ! They shall know, as they are 
known. No longer beholding through a glass, darkly, 
they shall understand what is now mysterious, and ap- 
prove what is now hard to bear. Their eye shall shed 
no tear ; for their heart shall feel no sorrow. The past 
shall all be explained ; and, in the light of eternity^ 
they shall be able to bring forth glory to the Lord from 
every part of it. Jesus, by his Spirit, shall be their Eter- 
nal Instructor. " He will dwell with them." They 
shall see his face. As the Lord their God, he will give 
them light. With them he will look back to the man- 
ger of Bethlehem, the garden of Gethsemane, and the 
cross of Calvary : and with them he will be fully satis- 
fied with the meanness of the one, the anguish of the 
second, and the desertion and death of the last. With 
them also will he look back to their own places of na- 
tivity, their periods of birth, their country, and their 
kindred. The trials that were sanctified, the seen and 
unseen dangers to which they were exposed, and the 
amount of undeserved blessings that were vouchsafed, 
shall be rehearsed. The means of their conversion, the 
preservation of their faith, and the time and circum- 
stances of their death, shall be fully remembered. In 
the abundance of their satisfaction, the redeemed shall 
exclaim, " He hath done all things well. The cove- 
nant was ordered in all things and sure. Not one pang 
too many. Not a sorrow too great. Not a trial too se- 
vere. From the cradle to the grave, all was right, 
and wise, and good !" The minister and the missionary 
shall say, '• We have not laboured in vain, nor spent 
our strength for nought !" The parent shall exclaim, 
" My prayers have not been lost upon my child." The 

28 



326 THE EVERLASTING THEME, ETC. 

tried and afflicted Christian shall acknowledge that his 
trials were his greatest blessings. All classes among the 
saved shall be perfectly and eternally satis- 
fied. In the gladness and gratitude of their hearts, 
they shall come to the throne of glory. Arrayed in 
white robes, faultless and spotless in body and soul, bright 
and comely with the comeliness of the imputed right- 
eousness of their Head and Saviour, they shall there 
present themselves, cast their crowns before him, and 
strike their golden harps, saying, " Blessing, and honour, 
and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon 
the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever,'' 
Rev. V. 13. 



THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 



Verse 31. — Tliat he hath done this, or, for he hath fulfilled it J* 

These words express the concluding argument — the 
triumphant termination, of this psalm. Here is assigned 
the reason, why the seed shall be able to declare, with 
truth, the righteousness of their Lord and Saviour. Du- 
ring the period of time, while they severally sojourn in 
this world, and throughout their everlasting existence in 
the new heavens and the new earth, this shall be their 
theme, the finished righteousness of Emmanuel ; this 
their occupation, to declare and celebrate the perfected 
work of the eternal redemption ; and this their all- 
convincing and conclusive argument, " for he hath ful- 
filled it." 

The statement in this passage will powerfully recall 
to the Christian's recollection, the dying exclamation of 
his Saviour, " It is finished," John xix. 30. We have 
already seen, that our Lord quoted the commencement 
of this Psalm, with the first " loud voice," which he ut- 

* The Hebrew verb, in this passage, is synonymous with our Enghsh 
verb, to do, the various significations of which, as perform, execute, trans- 
act, finish, conclude, are too well known to be enumerated. (See John- 
son's large Dictionary.) In different passages of our admirable transla- 
tion, it is thus rendered ; make, Dan. ix. 24 ; make ready, dress, prepare, 
as a sacrifice, Ezek. xlv. 17 ; 1 Kings xviii. 23 ; Numb. xv. 5, 6, 8, 12 ; 
offer, that which has been so prepared. Lev. ix. 7 ; effect, Jer. xlviii. 30 ; 
execute, Exod. xii. 12 ; perform, Jer. xliv. 25 ; and, as it is here transla 
ied, fulfil, Psa. cxlv. 19 ; cxlviii. 8 ; 1 Chron. xxii. 13 ; 2 Sam. xlv. 22 
The authors of the Hebrew New Testament have also given it this sens© 
in Acts xiii. 22 ; Eph. ii. 3 ; and Rev. xvii. 7. 



328 THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 

tered on the cross. We have observed that throughout 
the entire Psalm, all the sentiments bear a direct and 
close reference to what he then experienced, and that 
many of the expressions of sorrow and joy which it con- 
tains, are expressly applied to him in the New Testa- 
ment. Therefore, in harmony with the view which we 
have taken of this Psalm, that our Lord inwardly 
repeated its several verses, we now conclude that in 
his second " loud voice," when he exclaimed " It is 
finished," the Redeemer had reference to the termina- 
tion of this Psalm, in which his church is represented as 
declaring his righteousness, and proving its finished and 
perfect excellency by his triumphant argument, ^^ for he 
hath fulfilled it." 

This is the standing position of the church of Christ, 
in time and in eternity : Her Lord, in her name, and in 
her nature, fulfilled all righteousness. The powers of 
evil can no longer boast. Their exultations over fallen 
man are put to silence. One of our race has kept the 
law; yea, he has magnified it; yea, he has made it 
honourable, Isa. xlii. 21. A man has been found, who, 
from his cradle to his grave, never thought an evil 
thought, or spake an idle word, or omitted a single duty, 
or transgressed the will of God in the slightest particu- 
lar. A man has been found, " bone of our bone, and 
flesh of our flesh," who " was tempted and tried in all 
points, like as we are," and yet remained " without sin," 
Heb. iv. 15. Yea, against whom all the wickedness of 
man, and all the power and malice of the hosts of dark- 
ness were let loose : on whose single persons, in body 
and soul, were concentrated every conceivable, and in- 
conceivable, pain, and sorrow, and anguish ; and who, 
in the last and most trying hour of his dissolution, was 
forsaken by the comforting presence of his Father and 
his God : and yet, under all these, never uttered a mur- 



THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 329 

mur or impatient exclamation ; and, in opposition to 
them allj persevered in the narrow path of duty, still lov- 
ing, still obeying his absent Father ; praying for man, 
his murderer ; repudiating Satan, his tempter ; and, in 
the midst of excruciating torments, attending to the 
minutest particular of Scripture, and saying, '' 1 thirst," 
in order that it might be fulfilled ; and then, with a 
" loud voice," that heaven and earth might hear, and 
challenge, if they could, his perfected righteousness, ex- 
claiming, before he bowed his head, '- It is finished." 

If the view here given, be correct, this concluding pas- 
sage of the Psalm serves to explain that concluding sen- 
timent of our Saviour's mortal life. This verse informs 
us, that when he said, " It is finished," he signified 
thereby that his '' righteousness was fulfilled." 

The term " righteousness," strictly denotes conformity 
to law. When we wish to express what Christ was in 
himself, we not only state that he was righteous, but 
something more ; we affirm that he was holy — " the 
Holy One of God." His righteousness proceeded from 
his holiness. It was his holy nature exhibiting itself in 
acts, cognizable and commendable by law, that consti- 
tuted his righteousness. Our Lord, as the Surety of sin- 
ners, was under two laws, the law of the curse, and the 
law of the commandments. To each of these his obe- 
dience was full and perfect ; his righteousness is, there- 
fore, twofold, passive and active. Under the law of the 
curse, he passed more than thirty years, with perpetual 
and perfect endurance. For consider him that en- 
dured such contradictions against himself — pains and 
trials, labour and sweat, poverty and hunger ; sorrows, 
griefs, and disappointments ; .weariness, fatigue, and ex- 
haustion; shame, despite, and spitting; reproach, dis- 
tress, and persecution ; the forsakings of friends, the jest- 
ings of fools, and the persecutions of enemies ; accused 



330 THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 

S)f the worst of crimesj and of being a consorter with the 
worst of company ; cited before the highest tribunals in 
Uie land ; solemnly condemned in the spiritual court, for 
the greatest sins against the law of God, of which man 
can be guilty — the dreadful crimes of descending, as it 
were, to the lowest hell, by necromantic league with Beel- 
zebub, and of aspiring to the highest heaven, by blas- 
phemously making himself equal with God ; and sen- 
tenced in the criminal court for the highest offence 
which could be committed against the law of the land, 
namely, sedition and treason ; subjected after each sen- 
tence to the most insulting, and abusive treatment ; 
mocked and struck ; blindfolded and buffeted ; scourged 
on the back, crowned with thorns on the head, and 
arrayed with a fool's ensigns of royalty. Consider 
HIM in all this, and how he enidured to be led away 
to a painful, lingering, and ignominious, death ; to be 
hung upon a cross like a common malefactor ; and, 
worse than these, while under the curse of man and the 
law, to be afflicted by the most trying of all sorrows, the 
hiding of his Father's countenance ; and you shall be- 
hold the passive righteousness of the Son of God, shin- 
ing forth, calm and undisturbed, like the silent moon 
amid the storms of night. Clouds encompass, winds 
roar, and tempests rage ; but every glimpse we obtain 
of her silver light serves only to exhibit the queen of 
heaven more lovely, clear, and unruffled, in the compo- 
sure of majesty. Such was the passive righteousness of 
Jesus Christ. He never fretted at the prosperity of the 
wicked, or felt disconcerted at their frown. He mur- 
mured not at trials, nor grew angry at disappointments. 
A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, he yet 
knew not either impatience, or discontent. There was 
no sullenness, and no selfishness, in his nature. Though 
ready to forgive, he was not quick to resent. And 



THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 331 

amidst the strife of tongues that vied in reviling him, he 
reviled not again. "Like a sheep, dmiib before her 
shearers, so he opened not his mouth." Like a lamb 
led to the slaughter, in simpHcity and silence, he used 
no guile for his escape. And, when death was tranfix- 
ing him with its sharpest stings, he endured the most 
piercing of them all without a single murmur. Thus 
every sorrow, trial, and suffering, which the law of the 
curse had denounced, and which the Scriptures of truth 
had foretold, were endured by Christ in the most holy 
and innocent manner. His passive obedience, or right- 
eousness, w^as proved to be immaculate and perfect. He 
had neither sinned, nor come short in the smallest parti- 
cular which the law of the curse prescribed, but had ful- 
filled it to the very uttermost. 

The active righteousness of Christ, consists in his 
having fully discharged all his obligations as a Surety, 
all the requirements of the law as a man, and all the 
commands of God, as an obedient servant, and a will- 
ing sacrifice. To state it in a few words, we may say, 
that his heart, and life, overflowed with love to God and 
man ; that he perfectly fulfilled those two command- 
ments, on which hang all the law and the prophets ; for 
he loved the Lord his God with all his heart, and with 
all his soul, and with all his strength, and with all his 
mind, and he loved his neighbour as he loved himself. 
The duty of every relationship, by which he stood con- 
nected with his fellow-men, he discharged to the utmost. 
When a youth, he was subject to his parents, and obe- 
dient unto them, Luke ii. 5L When a man, he evaded 
not his duty to the state, but wrought a miracle, that he 
might pay the tribute, that was levied upon him. In 
his intercourse with men, the law of kindness was on 
his tongue, and gifts and blessings dropped from his 
hand. From the first dawn of reason, to the commen- 



332 THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 

dalion of his departing spirit, he always bethought, with 
alacrity, that he must be about his Father's business. 
Wherever he went, into whatsoever company he came, 
this was his first and only inquiry, What can I now do 
for God ? How shall I benefit these immortal souls ? 
Christ was always at his post ; he never lost a single 
opportunity of warning a sinner, instructing an inquirer, 
or relieving the distressed. The active obedience of the 
Saviour towards man is thus summed up in Scripture, 
" He went about doing good," Acts x. 38. In regard 
to God, his rehgion, his life, his righteousness, were of 
the most perfect, energetic, and fervent kind. He rested 
not in the outward form, nor neglected, or despised, the 
holy rites of rehgion. As his custom was, he went into 
the synagogue every sabbath-day, Luke iv. 16, and 
worshipped the God of the Hebrews, in their sacred lan- 
guage and services. On the solemn festivals, he pre- 
sented himself in the temple at Jerusalem, as the law 
commanded, and never failed to yield the most complete, 
and cordial obedience to the divinely-appointed ordinan- 
ces. His was a spiritual worship. His soul slumbered 
not in the outward ceremonies, but ascended, through 
them, into the highest communion with God. The 
private duties of his religion, were discharged with an 
active vigour, and fulness of heart. There was no de- 
lay, no procrastination of prayer ; no wandering of 
thought, no dulness of mind, no coldness of affection. In 
the morning, he rose up a great while before day, that 
he might be alone in prayer w4th God, Mark i. 35. At 
times he continued all night, pouring out his soul in fer- 
vent supplications, Luke vi. 14. Never omitting the 
duties of prayer and fasting, he was always ready and 
prepared, for the mightiest miracle of mercy that might 
be required of him, Matt. xvii. 21. Living and breath- 
ing for the glory of God, he moved amongst men and 



THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 333 

devils untouched by sin, and was acknowledged by both 
to be the Holy One of God, Mark i. 24 ; Luke iv. 34 ; 
Acts iii. 14. Every moment of his life, he possessed the 
most unhesitating readiness to accomplish all that his 
Father commanded : ^- 1 delight to do thy will, O my 
God ; yea, thy law is within my heart," Psa. xl. 8. He 
came to Jordan to be baptized of John ; and his argu- 
ment with this humble and declining minister prevailed, 
" Suffer it to be so now ; for thus it becometh us to ful- 
fil all righteousness." And upon Him who had perform- 
ed this work of righteousness, in such a self-denying and 
God-honouring spirit, the Holy Ghost descended like a 
dove ; "and, lo, a voice from heaven saying, This is my 
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," Matt. iii. 15, 
17. When he ascended Mount Tabor, and was trans- 
figured in glory, the same voice uttered the same decla- 
ration, proving that his righteousness in the sight of 
God was perfect and complete. Thus, by a testimony 
from heaven on two occasions ; by the admission of his 
watchful enemies that they were at a loss how to lay 
hold of him ; by the contradictions of the witnesses 
whom they suborned to accuse him ; by the solemn as- 
severation of the judge who condemned him, " I am in- 
nocent of the blood of this just person," Matt, xxvii. 24 ; 
and by the affirmation of one of the dying malefactors, 
" This man hath done nothing amiss," Luke xxiii. 41 ; 
we conclude with the most triumphant assurance, that, 
in the -sight of God and man, the active righteousness 
of Jesus Christ is pure, spotless, and perfect ; bright with 
the lustre of its excellency ; yea, clear as the sun, re- 
splendent and beautiful before the throne of God with 
the brightness and purity of its effulgence ; the admira- 
tion of heaven ; the glorious light of the eternal day ; 
and therefore, with all the emphasis of truth, is He to 
whom it belongs, rightly denominated, " The Sun of 



334 THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH* 

Righteousness," who rises on a dark and benighted 
world, and imparts a heahng warmth, and light, and life 
with his unsullied ray, Mai. iv. 2. 

Having now considered the finished righteousness of 
the Lord Jesus, as it is in itself, let us direct our attention 
to it in relation to ourselves. We have remarked that it 
was of a passive nature, enduring the law of the curse ; 
and of an active nature, fulfilling the law of the com- 
mandments ; and we now further add, that it was a 
Surety-righteousness ; that is to say, the Lord Jesus Christ 
fulfilled all righteousness, not in his own name, or for 
his own benefit, but in our name, and on our behalf. 
Let us remember that Christ's life in the flesh was en- 
tirely gratuitous. He needed not to become man, but he 
did so out of love to us. After he took our nature, he 
needed not to act righteous acts in order to become right- 
eous ; for he already possessed that essential and perfect 
holiness, which is the fountain of all righteousness, either 
of law commanding, or of goodness obeying ; but yet, 
from love to us, he did perform all manner of righteous 
works. His intention therein was to produce and pro- 
vide a perfect righteousness in the name of man ; and to 
give it forth as a second Adam, in place of that unright- 
eousness which had been transmitted by the first Adam. 
Therefore without consulting any man, he took our 
name ; without waiting our solicitation, he voluntarily 
undertook our bankrupt cause ; and having conducted it 
to a successful issue, he now invites us to beconne parta- 
kers of the benefits and privileges he has acquired. Our 
cause of bankruptcy was sin. To meet the penalty we 
had incurred, our Surety gave his life a sacrifice ; and 
for the debt we owed, he paid his righteousness as a price. 
Having undergone our death, he came forth from the 
prison of the grave, ascended into the hill of the Lord, 
and presented himself in the holy place before the Most 



'T^HE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 335 

High : there, in the court of heaven, he claimed, in his 
own right, that the name of man should be again restored 
to the book of life. He stood there as a man ; he could 
challenge the universe to disprove his claim. Of all the 
human race, his hands alone were clean, his heart pure ; 
no thought of his soul had ever turned on vanity ; and 
without deceit or guile, he had faithfully fulfilled to the 
very utmost all that will of God which he had sworn to 
accomplish. Therefore, in justice, he received that bless- 
ing which he sought from the Lord, and obtained the 
palm of righteousness from the God of his salvation, 
Psa. xxiv. The name of man was again registered in 
heaven ; and the good new-s of our redemption, through 
the righteousness of this Surety, was commanded to be 
proclaimed to all nations for the obedience of faith, 
Rom. i. 5. He who refuses to believe what this Surety 
has accomplished for him, will naturally attempt, if he 
at all desire to be saved, to perform it for himself; but 
till he shall have fulfilled all righteousness, and can 
prove before God and man, that from his cradle to his 
grave, his hands were clean, and his heart pure, this 
attempt will only aggravate his ruin. He, on the other 
hand, who believes in this gracious Surety, who ac- 
knowledges his own utter failure, and accepts the "gift 
of righteousness," Rom. v. 17, which Jesus bestows, does 
not attempt to do any thing towards the attainment of 
that which has already been so perfectly accomplished, 
but he rests on it, as all his salvation and all his desire. 
Filled with gratitude, he now w^orks to show his love to 
Christ, not selfishly to merit his gifts. His rehgion be- 
comes a service of love — a holy and a happy hfe. The 
name by which he now addresses the blessed Redeemer 
is, The Lord my righteousness, Jer. xxiii. 6. The 
rights of the head become the rights of the members. 
The name of the husband is conferred upon the wife, 



336 THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 

Jer. xxiii. 16. The satisfaction and gladness of the 
Christian's heart at this discovery of a finished salvation 
by a Surety-righteousnesSj and of everlasting union and 
betrothment with Christ therein, are so transporting that 
he exclaims, ^- 1 will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul 
shall be joyful in my God : for he hath clothed me with 
the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the 
robe of righteousness : as a bridegroom decketh himself 
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with 
her jewels," Isa. Ixi. 10. 

The doctrine of substitution, or imputation, is the life 
of the Christian. My sins were laid on the head of Je- 
sus ; that is, they were imputed to him by God the Fa- 
ther, Isa. liii. 6. Jesus wilhngly became my substitute, 
suffered in my room, and died in my stead. In the eye 
of the law, I am regarded as one who has paid its pen 
alty, suffered its curse, and died under its sentence. 1 
am therefore become dead to the law, by the body of 
Christ, Rom. vii. 4. It cannot lay hands upon me, and 
execute me twice. I was crucified with, and in Christ, 
under the curse of the law. What more, then, can it 
demand ? The law of our land cannot justly apprehend 
an individual a second time for the same oflfence, after 
he has either suffered its recorded sentence, or been ac- 
quitted as innocent at its bar. Nor will the law of God 
lay hold on Christ again, nor can it seize on me ; for it 
was only and expressly as my Surety that he died ; it 
was with the full permission of the Judge and Lawgiver, 
and with the covenanted consent of the Great Creditor, 
that he acted in my name, and laid down his life for 
mine. In the eye of the law, therefore, I am discharged 
in Christ my Surety, because it has executed all its wrath 
and sentence upon him. It laid him in the dead ; but 
he took to himself a new life, and I, therefore, ought to 
reckon myself to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto 



THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 337 

God, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Rom. vi. 11. With 
full truth also may I say with the apostle, ^- 1 am cruci- 
fied with Christ : nevertheless, I live ; yet not I, but 
Christ hveth in me : and the life which I now live in 
the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved 
me, and gave himself for me," Gal. ii. 20. 

The full statement of the gospel is comprehended in 
one word. Atonement, A Surety has appeared. He 
has offered himself as a sacrifice, and placed himself as 
a mediator between God and man, 1 Tim. ii. 5. He 
has atoned for the misdeeds of the one, and satisfied the 
justice of the other. God and man ought therefore to 
be again at one ; for the atonement, or the at-one-ment, 
has been fully accomplished. God, on his part, has cor- 
dially accepted that atonement. It was his kindness 
that suggested it, his goodness that allowed the substi- 
tution to stand good in law. •• God so loved the world, 
that he gave his only begotten Son," John iii. 16. No- 
thing more, therefore, is required to be done, in order to 
incline God's heart towards a reconciliation. He has 
accepted the atonement, and retains no feeling but that 
of good-will towards men. The Scriptures, accordingly, 
never affirm that God must be reconciled to man, but, 
on the contrary, represent God as entreating man to be 
reconciled to him. The enmity lies on man's side, not 
on that of the Most High. The change to be effected 
must be in the heart of the offender, not in that of the 
offended. The ministry of reconciliation, therefore, is 
distinctly, even in legal phraseology, thus defined, " To 
wit, that God was in Christ, reconciUng the world unto 
himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them ; and 
hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now, 
then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did 
beseech you by us : we pray you in Christ's steacj^ be ye 
reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for 

29 



338 THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 

US, who knew no sin ; that we might be made the right- 
eousness of God in him," 2 Cor. v. 19 — 21. It is man, 
then, that is called upon in this passage to be reconciled 
to God, to be again at one with him. It is we who are 
invited to accept the atonement, and to feel, and to act, 
as those who are satisfied that it has made up the breach 
between them and God. Too many conceive that Christ 
was accomplishing a work in order to make the Father 
favourable to man, as though Christ were more merciful 
than he ; but this Scripture positively declares of God 
the Father, that he was in Christ, reconciling this world 
of ours unto himself, not imputing unto us our trespasses. 
The Father laid them upon the head of his Son. Jesus 
cordially took our guilt, and suffered as our substitute. 
We are called upon to " accept this punishment of our 
iniquity," Lev. xxvi. 41. We are besought to lay our 
hands on the head of this substituted victim, and to con- 
fess over him all our iniquities, and all our transgressions, 
in all our sins, Lev. xvi. 21. We thus make a covenant 
with God, by means of the sacrifice, Psa. 1. 5. This 
covenant is, that, since he has so graciously accomplished 
all this redemption-work for us, which we cordially and 
gratefully accept at his hands, we will unreservedly pre- 
sent our bodies and souls, our time and talents, to Him, 
as our reasonable service, the only return we can make 
for such glorious and gratuitous kindness, and the only 
proof we can give of our confidence in his word, our ac- 
ceptance of his sacrifice, and our gratitude for his bene- 
fits. See Rom. xii. 1 ; 1 Cor. vi. 20 ; Rom. vi. 11, 12, 
&c. This is the salvation of the soul. This is the rec- 
onciliation, the at-one-ment, attaining its full effect. A 
principle is thus introduced into the human heart, which 
produces hatred against all sin. The end of Christ's 
death, as our Surety, is accomplished : " We are made 
the rignteousness of God in him." Being delivered out 



THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 339 

of the hand of our enemiesj we begin to learn to serve 
God without fear, in holiness and righteousness all the 
days of our life, Luke i. 74, 75. We recognize how ap- 
propriately our Surety is named, " Jesus," because he 
saves his people from their sins, Matt. i. 21. We no 
longer regard the work of Christ as something done to 
obtain for us merely a place of safety, but to introduce 
us to a state of holiness. Instead of hoping that Christ 
may save us from hell at our death, we are chiefly anxi- 
ous to be delivered from the love, and from the commis- 
sion, of sin while we live. And with greater earnestness 
of desire, we long and pray for the restoration of God's 
'image to our souls, than for bare admission to the hap- 
piness of heaven. Man is thus brought to be of one 
mind with God. Formerly, he meant only safety and 
happiness by the term '^ salvation ;*' now, he understands 
its full signification to be restoration to purity and holi- 
ness. While natural men set themselves to " work out 
their own salvation," that is, their safety, with slavish 
" fear and trembUng," lest after all they should be lost ; 
he comes to the Saviour as one who is lost already, and, 
from love and gratitude to that Saviour, appUes himself 
with perseverance and alacrity to work out his salvation ; 
that is, his deliverance from pollution, his restoration to 
holiness. He does so " with fear and trembling," be- 
cause he feels the power and multiplicity of sin within 
him ; because he knows that he cannot, of himself, either 
be willing or able to eradicate it ; and because he has 
learned that it is God alone who can work in him, first 
to will, and then to do, of his good pleasure, Phil. ii. 12. 
Therefore he is ever fearful lest he grieve the blessed 
Spirit, and quench his light and convictions ; he wrestles 
in agony of contention against every species of sin ; trem- 
bles to think what little progress he is making in holi- 
ness, and what a deceitful and powerful enemy is lodged 



340 THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 

within his bosom. Thus " fearful and trembling" in 
regard to his own workings, the Christian's peace and 
confidence flow entirely from the knowledge of his Sure- 
ty's finished righteousness ; which assures him that the 
Lord works not an imperfect work, but that what good 
thing he hath begun in him, he will perform until the 
day of Jesus Christ, Phil. i. 6 ; Psa. cxxxviii. 8. There- 
fore, with the apostle, his life, his religion, consists main- 
ly of three things : he worships God in the spirit, he 
rejoices in Christ Jesus, and has no confidence in the 
flesh, Phil. iii. 3. And with another apostle, he casts 
himself for support entirely on his Lord and Master, say- 
ing, ^' Now unto him that is able to keep me from fall- 
ing, and to present me faultless before the presence of his 
glory with exceeding joy : to the only wise God our Sa- 
viour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both 
now and ever. Amen." Jude 24, 25. 

Such, Christian reader, is the result of the finished 
work of our Emmanuel. " The work of righteousness 
is peace, and the effect of righteousness is quietness and 
assurance for ever," Isa. xxxii. 17. Has it produced this 
"eflfect" upon your soul? Or, are you labouring after 
peace, not believing Him who says, ^' My peace I give 
unto you?" John xiv. 27. Are you "going about," in 
all your religious duties, to establish a righteousness of 
your own, or have you submitted yourself to the righte- 
ousness of God? "Christ is the end of the law for 
righteousness to every one that believeth," Rom. x. 3, 4. 
You doubtless wish for admission to the realms of glory. 
— Those who receive, who accept of, the gift of righte- 
ousness, shall reign in life, by one, Jesus Christ, Rom. 
V. 17. Do you engage in works of charity, in order 
that God may count you a righteous person, and worthy 
of reward ? — " To him that worketh not, but believeth 
on him that justtfieth the ungodly, (through the provided 



THE FINISHER OF THE FAITH. 341 

Surety,) his faith is counted for righteousness," Rom. iv. 
5. Come, then, to the Lord Jesus, who is at once the 
author and the finisher of the faitii, Heb. xii. 2. Accept 
of him as given. He is made of God unto you righte- 
ousness, 1 Cor. i. 30. Receive him into your heart, and 
call him ever hereafter. The Lord your righteousness^ 
Jer. xxiii. 6. ^' Surely shall one say. In the Lord have 
I righteousness and strength," Isa. xlv. 24. Count, then, 
with the apostle, count all things to be loss, for the excel- 
lency of the knowledge of such a Saviour. Yea, count 
every thing as dross, that you may win Christ, and be 
found in him, not having your own righteousness which 
is of the law, but tliat which is through the faith of 
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, Phil, 
iii. 8, 9. Thus in Christ shalt thou be made a new man, 
created in righteousness and true holiness, Eph. iv. 24. 
Through him thy soul shall be united unto God ; '- he 
will betroth thee unto him in righteousness," Hos. ii. 19. 
Thou shalt be counted a member of the Bride, the 
Lamb's wife. Arrayed in the fine linen which is the 
righteousness of the saints. Rev. xix. 8, thou shalt be a 
welcome guest at the marriage-supper of the Lamb; 
and, as an inhabitant of the new Jerusalem, the bright- 
ness of thy unsullied purity shall be an object of ever- 
lasting admiration to all angelic beholders ; yea, rather, 
the Lord of the glorious church shall be admired in the 
perfect comeliness of all her members, 2 Thess. i. 10 ; 
Ezek. xvi. 14 ; Eph. v. 27. Many shall inquire, Who 
are these ? And the reply shall be, '^ These are they 
which came out of great tribulation, and have washed 
then* robes, and made them white in the blood of the 
Lamb : therefore are they before the throne of God," 
Rev. vii. 14, 15. 

29* 



SUMMARY. 

This Psahxij Christian reader, which we have now 
considered, has fixed our thoughts on the Saviour of the 
world, and unfolded to us, as it were, his secret feehngs 
and inmost thoughts during the latter part of that awful 
period in which he hung upon the cross. After almost 
three hours of silence, in which he endured the conflict 
of the powers of darkness, suffered inconceivably acute 
mental anguish under the hidings of his Father's face, 
the Saviour uttered, and this psalm had recorded, his as- 
tounding cry, ^- My God, my God, why hast thou for- 
saken me V' Here we considered the Lord Jesus, as our 
Surety, standing at his Father's judgment-seat, and, con- 
scious of innocence, inquiring what new charge was laid 
against him, to cause this new and severest of all afflic- 
tions, the hiding of his Father's countenance. We con- 
cluded that one reason why our Lord so earnestly cried 
to his Father w^as, that he might ascribe the glory of his 
deliverance to him, being unwilling to appropriate it to 
himself by an exertion of his own power ; and we found 
that the whole verse comprised three inquiries, to which 
we conceived these to be appropriate answers : 1. Why 
hast thou forsaken me ? Because thou art bearing the 
sins of the world. 2. Why art thou so far from help- 
ing me ? That the victory may be altogether thine own. 
And, 3. W^hy art thou so far from the words of my roar- 
ing ? That thou mayest learn all the obedience by the 
things which thou art suffering. We perceived that our 
Lord in continuing his supplications, complained to his Fa- 
ther, but would not complain against him ; and yet in- 
stantly acquitted him of unkindness or injustice, and sub- 



SUMMARY. 343 

joined this filial and beautiful acknowledgment, " But thou 
continuest holy." In the fulness of his sorrow, our Lord 
next contrasted his own experience with that of the fathers, 
whose prayers were heard, whose expectations were not 
confounded : he denominated himself a worm, allied by his 
human nature to the meanest part of creation ; a scarlet- 
coloured w^orm, covered with the imputed guilt of men : 
and regarded himself as ^' no man ;" not what man now is 
by sin, nor what man was intended to be by his Crea- 
tor. Our Lord's life in the flesh, we saw, might be illus- 
trated by the heathen doctrine of metempsychosis ; for 
he brought the recollections of the world of glory into 
this state of being ; and therefore human life must have 
appeared, in his eyes, infinitely more mean, wretched, 
and loathsome, than we can possibly conceive. We 
were next led to contemplate the enumerated mental 
sufferings of our much-tried liOrd, the reproaches with 
which he was assailed, the mockery by which he was 
insulted, and the taunts which wounded his spirit to the 
quick. In the ninth and tenth verses, w^e considered that 
pathetic and touching appeal which our dying Redeemer 
made to the heart of his Father, arguing from the help- 
lessness of his infancy to the helplessness of his man- 
hood, and casting the latter upon that Paternal care, 
which had provided for the former. We perceived how 
earnestly our Lord followed up this appeal with renewed 
entreaty for his Father's presence, expressing this great 
and only (fesire of his heart in these w^ords, " Be not far 
from me." The bodily sufferings of the Man of Sorrows, 
w^ere next brought to our notice. The assault and en- 
compassing of his enemies on every side, was the first 
particularized ; where also we considered the assault of 
Satanic hosts upon the spirit of our Lord. Consequent 
on this assault succeeded universal faintness over his 
frame, complete languor and extreme exhaustion, with 



344 SUMMARY. 

intense and burning thirst. The piercing of our Lord's 
sacred body in his hands and feet, was then considered, 
and the lingering death by crucifixion described. Ex- 
tended on the cross, the emaciated state of the Saviour's 
worn-out frame was exposed to view, and all his bones 
might be told. In this condition he was subjected to 
the insulting gaze of the multitude ; the soldiers also 
seized every article of his clothing, parted his garments 
among them, and cast lots upon his vesture. Urged by 
these various and sore afflictions, and desiring with in- 
tense anxiety to enjoy again, before he died, the light 
and peace of his Father's presence, our blessed Saviour 
then, with the most vehement importunity, prayed for a 
speedy and immediate answer. And, whilst he was yet 
praying, his Father granted his petition. Light dawned 
upon his soul ; darkness was dispelled from the face of 
nature, and from the heart of the Redeemer ; and, as 
though issuing from a kind of spiritual death, and enjoy- 
ing a spiritual resurrection, our Divine Surety exclaimed, 
" Thou hast heard me." Importunity prevailed with 
God. The whole tone of feehng and sentiment, in the 
Psalm, became changed from this verse. Gratitude and 
thanksgiving, we observed, occupied its remaining por- 
tion. The Saviour, as it were, invited from the cross 
the members of his Church to join his eucharistic song ; 
called them his "^t)rethren" to whom he would declare 
his Father's name ; and testified that God is worthy to 
be praised, because he had not hid his face from him, 
but had heard his prayer, and answered his cry. There- 
fore he himself again expressed his determination to 
praise the Lord, and to fulfil all his vows in the presence 
of the redeemed. Our blessed Saviour was next pre- 
sented to our view as contemplating the vision of joy 
that was set before him — casting a long look through 
successive time into the eternal age, and beholding with 



SUMMARY. 345 

delight all things gathered together in himself, Eph. i. 
10. He contemplated the satisfaction of his meek and 
lowly disciples ; the seekers of the Lord, all praising him ; 
and the eternal spiritual life which they should enjoy ; 
then the conversion of the world, the establishment of 
his own glorious kingdom, the universal worship which 
should be rendered to him by all classes of human be- 
ings, and their entire dependence on himself, even in 
their most holy and exalted condition, as the alone Au- 
thor of the faith. And lastly, the Psalm represented the 
Saviour as solacing his dying spirit in the midst of his 
enemies, with the assurance of a holy and numerous 
seed, who should be counted to him for a posterity. 
These his children, the fruit of the travail of his soul, 
he beheld, with satisfaction, faithfully serving God in 
ev9ry age of the world ; and, without fail, coming, each 
in his proper and appointed hour, into his kingdom of 
grace, and all, at last, gathered together into his hingdom 
of glory. Their theme in time and in eternity is one ; 
their occupation also is one, to " declare" to all that sur- 
round them, or that rise up under them, in time ; and to 
all the principalities and powers that behold them, or 
worlds of intelhgent beings that shall be created after 
them, throughout eternity, the unsullied and accepted 
Surety-righteousness of Jehovah Jesus, which completely 
secures their everlasting salvation, for he hath fulfilled 
it all. 

" Now to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory 
and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. 
Amen." Jude 25. 



THE END. 



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